Intriguing on-chain data has revealed that Bitcoin whales, those prodigious investors who hold anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 BTC, now possess 25.16% of the entire Bitcoin supply. More fascinating, their net accumulation has been on the uptick.
This captivating insight came to light thanks to data from Santiment, an on-chain analytics firm. Specifically, the telltale sign came from the “Supply Distribution” indicator, a nifty tool that tracks the percentage of the total circulating Bitcoin supply held by different wallet groupings.
In order to decode this cryptic distribution, Santiment segments the Bitcoin universe based on how many coins are housed in each wallet. For instance, the 10 to 100 coins group encompasses all wallets owning at least 10, but not exceeding 100 BTC.
By tallying the holdings of a given investor group, Santiment calculates what percentage of the total supply that group represents.
Our primary interest lies with the 1,000 to 10,000 BTC cohort. Considering the current exchange rate, the monetary value of their holdings spans a vast territory from $65 million to a whopping $650 million. Quite understandably, these gargantuan investors are famously deemed as “whales”.
The movements of these whales are essential to watch due to their ability to swiftly shift massive amounts of Bitcoin, making them potential influencers of market trends. Though there are whales whose holdings exceed this group’s 10,000 BTC upper threshold, at such levels we begin to encounter entities like exchanges, which differ from typical investors.
However, the Bitcoin Supply Distribution, highlighting the 1,000 to 10,000 BTC group, exhibits enhancement over the course of 2024, with whales acquiring 266,000 BTC, equivalent to $17.2 billion, during this time-frame.
This accumulation, though marked, hasn’t followed a steady trajectory. Whales strategically sold into the rally contributing to Bitcoin’s new all-time high, only to buy back once the pullback occurred.
Despite Bitcoin’s consolidation, the latest trends in Bitcoin Supply Distribution indicate that these colossal investors might be fueling the current recovery push.
Following this escalation in ownership, this cohort now controls 25.16% of the total supply. It’s a mind-boggling realization that over a quarter of the circulating Bitcoin supply resides in the digital wallets of these substantial investors.
Despite the bullish trend that the whale buying signifies, the broader investor sentiment seems to diverge. The provided “Weighted Sentiment” data suggests a prominent FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) mentality among investors towards Bitcoin. History reminds us that Bitcoin’s movements often counter majority predictions, with fear triggering uptrends and greed foreshadowing potential peaks.
As of this writing, Bitcoin trades at approximately $64,700, reflecting a boom of over 7% over the past week. However, the recent recovery seems to have recoiled marginally in the previous few hours, a subtle reminder of the volatile dance Bitcoin participates in within the crypto market.
