- Fear & Greed Index hits 23 on April 16 from crypto whales pullback.
- Bitcoin rises 0.2% to $74,739 USD per CoinGecko.
- Whale liquidity drops 35%, boosting retail volatility 1.3% swings.
Crypto whales pullback on April 16, 2026, drove the Fear & Greed Index to 23, per Alternative.me data. Bitcoin traded at $74,739 USD, according to CoinGecko.
Fear & Greed Index Falls to 23
Alternative.me calculates the Fear & Greed Index from volatility (25% weight), market momentum and volume (25%), social media (15%), surveys (15%), Bitcoin dominance (10%), and Google Trends (10%). The score of 23 on April 16 placed it below 25.
Volatility rose 15% above the 30-day average. Trading volume fell 22% from April 15. James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, said whales showed caution amid macro uncertainty.
USDT volume reached $45 billion USD, up 18%, per CoinGecko. Spot markets saw $2.1 billion USD shift to stables.
Bitcoin at $74,739 USD
Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $74,739 USD in Asian and European sessions on April 16, per CoinGecko. Ethereum increased 0.9% to $2,355.92 USD. Volume totaled $28.5 billion USD, down 19% week-over-week.
Net position changes for addresses with 1,000+ BTC reached -150 BTC on April 16, per Glassnode data, versus a -2,450 BTC weekly average.
Order book depth fell to $45 million USD per 2% price move, according to Kaiko. Bid-ask spreads widened 12 basis points.
On-Chain Data Shows Crypto Whales Pullback
Glassnode reported 1,234 wallet activations from 100+ BTC addresses on April 16, down 41% from April 15. Transfers over $10 million USD dropped to 67 from 112.
Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, said whales hold 65% of BTC supply off exchanges, with April 16 inactivity signaling risk-off positioning. Exchange inflows fell 33% to 18,500 BTC.
Michaël van de Poppe, analyst at MN Trading, posted on X that low whale volume meant retail drove 78% of spot trades.
Altcoin Gains
XRP rose 2.9% to $1.40 USD. BNB gained 0.7% to $623.34 USD. Solana increased 1.4% to $145.20 USD, per CoinGecko.
Altcoin market cap grew 1.2% to $1.05 trillion USD. Retail volume reached 62% of total, up from 45% average.
ARB added 3.1% to $1.85 USD.
Retail Volatility Increases
Whales typically absorb 40% of daily volume. Liquidity fell to 65% of normal on April 16. Retail orders caused 1.3% intraday BTC swings.
Coinglass reported $145 million USD in liquidations. Bitcoin's drop below $74,500 USD affected 5,200 positions.
Stop-loss triggers rose 28% on retail platforms. Depth fell 25% on Binance and Bybit.
Spot ETFs Record Inflows
Spot Bitcoin ETFs managed $52.3 billion USD on April 16, per Farside Investors. Net inflows hit $210 million USD, with BlackRock's IBIT at $112 million USD.
Institutions added 4,500 BTC. Fidelity's FBTC saw $45 million USD inflows.
Butterfill noted ETFs provide base liquidity, though whales affect short-term depth.
Outlook Depends on Whales
Federal Reserve minutes on April 17 may signal rate path. Bitcoin support stands at $74,000 USD.
CryptoQuant projects whale return if the index exceeds 30. Van de Poppe forecasts BTC at $76,000 USD by April 20 if whales re-enter. Markets eye $73,500 USD support amid crypto whales pullback effects.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed by automated editorial systems.
