Large Bitcoin Whales Are at All-Time Low as BTC Aims to Move Past $65,000

Bitcoin whales’ average holdings are decreasing with the number of accounts holding over BTC 1,000 dropping to its lowest point since 2012.

By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 19 October 2021 14:32 IST

Large Bitcoin Whales Are at All-Time Low as BTC Aims to Move Past $65,000

BTC 10,000 is worth over $621 million (roughly Rs. 4,655.04 crores) as per today's price

Highlights

Bitcoin has moved past $62,000 for the first time in 5 months
Bitcoin whales with more than BTC 10,000 has fallen to 82
Bitcoin wallet addresses holding BTC 100–1,000 have increased

Bitcoin has moved past the $62,000 (roughly Rs. 46,64,880) mark for the first time in five months, a milestone that the entire crypto market is positive about. With more growth expected in the coming weeks, investors continue to flock to the digital asset even though it has reached "overbought" levels this month. Well, October's massive rally is being attributed to whales buying big, but new data suggests that the number of big Bitcoin (BTC) whales — which are investors holding as much as BTC 10,000, have fallen to an all-time low.

As per a tweet by Chinese journalist Colin Wu, on-chain market analysis group Glassnode claims that the number of Bitcoin whales with more than BTC 10,000 has fallen to 82 — a figure that hasn't dipped to such lows since mid-December 2012. Back then, Bitcoin was valued at $13.5 (roughly Rs. 1,015), which meant that BTC 10,000 was only worth $135,000 (roughly Rs. 1.02 crores). Today, BTC 10,000 is worth over $621 million (roughly Rs. 4,655.04 crores).

According to Glassnode, the number of addresses with current holdings of ≥ 10,000 Bitcoins has dropped to the lowest level in history, with only 82 Bitcoin addresses holding ≥ 10,000 Bitcoins. pic.twitter.com/78e6Lwi7Ys
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 17, 2021

Glassnode didn't reveal who these 82 whales are, but they are very likely Bitcoin companies, cryptocurrency exchanges and very early investors.

But Glassnode's findings aren't very conclusive on whether the number of whales has actually dropped. According to a tweet by Santiment published recently, the number of accounts holding BTC 100–1,000 has "significantly" increased over the past five weeks. Santiment says the number of Bitcoin wallet addresses within this group has increased by 254, a 1.9 percent increase in a short span of time.

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This suggests that some whales have spread their Bitcoin holding over multiple addresses and that some addresses are managed by multiple users. Nevertheless, this is a good sign for the crypto market as the smaller the percentage that a small group owns of the total supply, the more decentralised the crypto asset becomes.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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