Number of Bitcoin Whales Jumps to Highest Since January 2021

The
number
of
large
bitcoin
holders
is
growing
again,
boosting
the
case
for
a
price
rally
to

new
record
highs.

Data
tracked
by
Glassnode
and
André
Dragosch,
director
and
head
of
research
–
Europe
at
Bitwise,
shows
the
number
of
so-called
whales
or
network
entities
owning
at
least
1,000
BTC
jumped
to
1,678
early
this
week,
reaching
the
highest
since
January
2021.

The
growing
accumulation
by
large
holders
alongside
solid
uptake
for
alternative
vehicles,
especially
the
U.S.-listed
spot
ETFs,
suggests
increasing
confidence
in
bitcoin’s
price
prospects.

Entities
are
defined
as
clusters
of
crypto
wallet
addresses
held
by
a
single
network
participant
holding
at
least
1,000
BTC.
Activity
of
whale
entities
is
closely
watched,
given
their
capacity
to
influence
liquidity
and
prices.

Meanwhile,
retail
investor
accumulation
has
slowed,
with
the
cryptocurrency’s
price
nearing
$70,000,
according
to
analytics
firm
CryptoQuant.

“Retail
holdings
have
risen
by
just
1K
Bitcoin
in
the
last
thirty
days,
a
historically
slow
pace,”
analysts
at
CryptoQuant
told
CoinDesk.

“Since
the
start
of
2024,
the
holdings
of
other
larger
investors
(those
holding
between
1
and
10K
Bitcoin)
have
grown
faster
than
the
holdings
of
retail
investors
on
a
yearly
basis.
As
of
today,
retail
holdings
have
grown
by
30K
Bitcoin,
compared
to
173K
Bitcoin
of
other
larger
investors,”
analysts
added.

Bitcoin
traded
just
above
$67,000
at
press
time,
just
10%
short
of
setting
a
new
lifetime
above
$73,800.
Prices
briefly
topped
$69,000
Monday
before
losing
momentum,
supposedly
due
to
a
continued
rise
in
the
dollar
index
and
Treasury
yields.

Some
analysts
are
confident
that
rising
yields

will
not
weigh
over
risk
assets
for
long
and
that
the
path
of
least
resistance
for
BTC
is
on
the
higher
side.
Options
trading
on
dominant
exchange
Deribit
point
to

$80,000
and

$100,000
as
levels
to
watch
out
for
the
rest
of
the
year.