Retail Dumps, Bitcoin Inflows Surge: On-Chain Data | Crypto News
Bitcoin’s slide to $60,000 on Feb. 6 triggered a sharp surge of exchange inflows that on-chain analyst Darkfost called a capitulation event, with short-term holders and small “shrimp” wallets main the transfer. It wasn’t just retail panic either—flows jumped on venues that execs truly use.
Darkfost said the selloff “reignited investor anxiety” after BTC revisited a price degree “not…since October 2024,” alongside a broader drawdown “exceeding 50% from the last all time high.” It wasn’t only where BTC traded. It was how fast it received there. “The acceleration of this correction created a clear fear driven dynamic,” he said. People rushed cash onto exchanges. That only added fuel to the liquidation fire. “Unsurprisingly, Short Term Holders were the first to react emotionally.”
Bitcoin Capitulation Event
What stood out: short-term holders had been piling into Binance deposits first—the standard ‘quick to flinch’ group. On Feb. 6 alone, Binance inflows attributed to STHs on a 7-day sum foundation “exceeded 100,000 BTC,” surpassing exercise seen during the April 2025 correction, he said.
Across venues, the dimensions was bigger still. From Feb. 4 to Feb. 6, practically “241,000 BTC were sent to various exchanges,” Darkfost wrote. It’s robust to interpret that as something but promoting strain. In his view, the ensuing wave of deposits compounded volatility already elevated by compelled liquidations and de-risking.
While Binance tends to seize large swaths of retail-driven circulation, Darkfost flagged a concurrent surge on Coinbase Advanced, which he described as widely used by establishments, energetic merchants, and skilled desks. On Feb. 6, BTC inflows there hit roughly “27,000 BTC.” That’s a real spike.
That’s the half that messes with the straightforward “retail panic” story. When you see it on both Binance and Coinbase, it’s most likely not just one crowd freaking out. Darkfost put it bluntly: “nervousness…not limited to retail investors.”
In a separate post centered on small holders, Darkfost argued that retail participation had been unusually muted for a lot of the cycle, then abruptly reappeared during the drop. He appeared at Binance deposits from wallets under 1 BTC—the “shrimps,” normally the most jumpy.
On Feb. 5, shrimp inflows to Binance exceeded “1,000 BTC in a single day,” versus a month-to-month average “closer to 365 BTC,” according to Darkfost. He famous the last comparable spike was in July 2025, but in a very different market regime, when Bitcoin was still pushing toward new highs. Same variety of circulation, completely different temper.
Darkfost also tied the transfer to cost-basis dynamics that have more and more squeezed holders as the correction deepened. He said Bitcoin “has put all STH under pressure and is now beginning to test LTH,” including that the first long-term holder cohorts—6 to 12 months and 12 to 18 months—had been already underwater with price bases of “$103,188” and “$85,849.”
He pointed to a response after price reached the realized price of the 18-month to 2-year cohort at “$63,654,” calling it “likely an area of interest for these holders.” He also famous that their rising price foundation suggests higher-cost cash have aged into that bracket.
His take: this was an exhaustion flush, and it received’t reset in a single day. “These capitulation moves have pushed BTC into an extreme oversold zone that the market will now need time to absorb and digest,” he wrote. After briefly slipping below $60,000, Bitcoin rebounded and was “trading again around $71,000.” Darkfost said that stabilization lined up with retail flows drifting back toward their average.
That takes one apparent source of promote strain off the desk. The larger query is whether or not this was the low—or just a breather in a nasty, high-volatility regime.
At press time, BTC traded at $69,525.
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