The number of Bitcoin whales has increased by more than 200 since the start of 2021, as per the statistics from analytics provider Glassnode. It classifies a ‘whale’ as an account that is holding over a thousand coins, which at current prices would be valued at over $37 million. The number of Bitcoin whales (entities holding ≥ 1k $BTC) has seen an astounding increase this year as the leading cryptocurrency enjoyed a massive winning rally in late December and January.
More than 200 new whale entities have appeared in the network.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 200 new whale entities have appeared in the network, which supports the case that big institutions are arriving. The on-chain data provider suggested that these could be intuitional accounts, adding “data supporting the case that institutions are arriving.” In December, Glassnode reported that 78% of the circulating Bitcoin supply is illiquid and hardly accessible. An increase in Bitcoin Whales points to bullish investor sentiment as large amounts of BTC are being hoarded – which reduces sell pressure.
Bitcoin continues to hover above $37,700.
Since the rally began, the leading cryptocurrency has corrected by 31%, but it has since recovered back to $37,000, just 13.5% short of its all-time high. At the time of writing, bitcoin is changing hands at just above $37,700. Glassnode also reported that activity on fiat-on-ramp exchanges such as Coinbase had been an order of magnitude higher than those of crypto dominant exchanges like Binance over the last couple of weeks. This could be indicative of new money flowing in. Major institutional funds such as Grayscale have been buying the dip, and their latest BTC figure has hit an all-time high, topping $30 billion.
