thecryptobasic.com
Bitcoin whales are on the rise after new wallets holding more than 100 BTC saw an uptick in the past two weeks, catalyzed by growing prices and positive sentiments.
Data from Santiment disclosed this bullish scenario, as the network saw the addition of 297 new Bitcoin whales in 14 days. Notably, an uptick in large Bitcoin holders often precedes an impending price surge.
The total number of addresses holding at least 100 BTC surged by 1.93% within this period to 16,338 on Thursday as whales continued to accumulate the premier asset. Notably, this correlated to a Bitcoin uptrend, when BTC surged above $68,000 before correcting to $67,687 at the time of writing.
Whales Buying Retail Dumps
The Santiment data shows that this notable whale uptick occurred alongside a squeeze in retail holders, as the number of addresses holding below 100 BTC dumped considerably. Per the on-chain analysis, the number was reduced by 0.1%, amounting to 20,600 wallets.
Meanwhile, Santinent noted that the increase in whales shows an accumulation disposition, as large holders are buying the Bitcoin tokens that retail traders are dumping. However, not all reductions among addresses with less than 100 BTC indicate sales. Notably, it could also signal that some have increased their holdings, pushing them to new categories.
Whale Holdings Hits New ATH
With the latest growth in the number of whales, their stash has surged to an all-time high. Data from CryptoQuant shows that the Bitcoin held among large holders has reached a new peak of 670,000 BTC, representing 3.3% of the current Bitcoin circulating supply.
The analysis noted that the latest milestone has a long-term bullish implication for Bitcoin, indicating institutional interest in the firstborn crypto asset. It also shows increased sentiments among investors that Bitcoin will surge to higher prices.
However, CryptoQuant noted that a surge in whale holdings has historically impeded Bitcoin’s price, as the asset tends to consolidate or decline in price. The analysis shows that the largest crypto usually surges when “whales gradually reduce their holdings until they reach negative percentage change values.”