Bitcoin whales' appetite for more coins has returned for the first time since Bitcoin price reached its all-time high in March, according to blockchain data.
“They are now returning with strong buying strength, indicating that current prices are suitable for buying and accumulation despite widespread fear,” said market information firm CryptoQuant. tweeted Friday.
Analysts cited an increase in 30-day percentage change in owned whale addresses, alongside a growing total balance of BTC held by whales. In on-chain terms, a “whale” is the owner of any Bitcoin address holding between 1,000 BTC and 10,000 BTC, excluding those controlled by mining companies and crypto exchanges.
#Bitcoin: The appetite of Whales for buying yields
“They are now returning with strong buying strength, indicating that current prices are conducive to buying and accumulating despite widespread fear.” – By @abramchart
“In general, whales purchase Bitcoin at a faster rate during bull markets and decrease their purchases when the market transitions to a bear market,” said Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant. Decrypt.
Throughout March, whales increased their BTC holdings by over 9.8%. They continued to accumulate in April, but their accumulation rate slowed to just 4.2% by May 1, by which time the price of Bitcoin had fallen more than 20% from its highs to reach less of $57,000.
As of May 22, the indicator had returned to 5.5%, meaning that whale accumulation was once again on the rise after the market bottom. In early May, Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant note that whales had harvested 47,000 BTC during the drastic market drop.
The price of Bitcoin rose to $68,760 at the time of writing, up about 3% for the week.
According to Moreno, the amount invested in Bitcoin by whales has more than doubled from $57 billion to $122 billion since the start of the year. This is measured by observing the “realized cap” of whale owners – the total value of all whale coins based on when each coin was purchased, rather than their current market value.
James Check, Senior Analyst at Glassnode said As of Wednesday, the Bitcoin network's total realized cap has now reached an all-time high of $578 billion, “meaning Bitcoin fundamentals have literally never been stronger.”
“In my opinion, we are quite far from the real euphoria phase of this bull market,” Check added. “You could say we are on the border between enthusiastic and excited, but not yet euphoric.”