Recent data from Santiment reveals a significant trend among Bitcoin whale wallets—those holding 100 or more BTC. In the past two weeks, the number of these wallets has increased by 297, representing a 1.9% rise.
Conversely, wallets with less than 100 BTC have decreased by 20,629, a drop of 0.1%. This divergence in wallet growth suggests that larger stakeholders are accumulating Bitcoin while retail investors are offloading their assets, a trend that historically leads to bullish outcomes.
Bitcoin Whale Grows as Price Crosses $67K
As of now, Bitcoin is trading at $67,694.70, reflecting a 1.53% increase in the last 24 hours. The global market cap is approximately $1.34 trillion, although the 24-hour trading volume has dipped by 7.40%.
The current dynamics indicate a strong interest from whale investors, which could signal future price movements.
Crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant provides additional insights, noting that when whale holdings increase, Bitcoin’s price typically experiences a moderate decline or remains stagnant. They refer to this stage as “the calm before the storm,” suggesting that there might be big price changes coming.
According to CryptoQuant, a genuine surge in Bitcoin’s growth tends to occur once whale holdings decrease to negative percentage change values.
Justin Bennett, a prominent crypto analyst, emphasizes the current price action, suggesting that bullish trends in Bitcoin rarely allow for resets, unlike the present situation. This observation could imply that the market is experiencing a consolidation phase before a potential breakout.
Institutional Confidence in Bitcoin
In addition to whale behaviour, institutional interest in Bitcoin is increasing, especially through ETFs. More than 1,179 organisations have made Bitcoin investments through spot ETFs, including well-known firms like Goldman Sachs, Susquehanna International Group, and Millennium Management.
With holdings of around 19,000 BTC, Millennium Management is particularly noteworthy. This increase in institutional investment shows that people are becoming more confident that Bitcoin is a sustainable asset class.
The increasing accumulation of Bitcoin by whales and the decline in retail wallets point towards a possible bullish sentiment in the market. With institutional investors also stepping in, the foundation for a price rally appears to be forming.