Following a week of little price movements, Bitcoin (BTC) gained by 0.50%, maintaining its value within a consolidation range of $51,000 – $52,500. However, despite this period of inaction, Bitcoin investors have maintained a consistent level of high accumulation, according to an observation from crypto analyst Ali Martinez.
Interestingly, blockchain data analytics company Santiment has recently provided some insights into this trend.
In a post on February 23, Santiment reported that there have been 147 new Bitcoin whale wallets – addresses with 1,000 BTC+ – over the last month, representing a 7.4% rise. The analytics firm also noted that sharks holding between 1-1,000 BTC and retail investors holding less than 1BTC have only declined by 0.1% and 1.0%, respectively, within the same time frame.
#Bitcoin‘s various sized #onchain wallets have dramatically shifted in the past 30 days as #ETF‘s have become mainstays.
1K+ $BTC wallets: 147 MORE (7.4% rise)
1-1K $BTC wallets: 1,237 LESS (0.1% drop)
<1 $BTC wallets: 509K LESS (1.0% drop)https://t.co/figQmv3vCh pic.twitter.com/4V7RZKYRce
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 23, 2024
Behind Bitcoin’s High Accumulation Levels
Without a doubt, these metrics reported above indicate a high level of investor confidence in crypto’s most prized asset; however, what could be the forces driving such optimism? One principal contributor to the current high level of BTC purchases is the consistent growth in the Bitcoin ETF market, as also indicated in Santiment’s report. According to the market tracking platform BitMEX Research, the Bitcoin spot ETFs have only recorded a negative daily flow once in the last four weeks.
Such institutional interest can be encouraging, especially as most analysts predict that the development of Bitcoin spot ETF will translate into a massive demand for the underlying asset, which could result in prices as high as $150,000.
Furthermore, the much-anticipated Bitcoin halving event is another potential driving force behind the robust BTC whale activity. This is because the halving event is usually expected to result in increased demand as a result of the block reward slashing effect, which reduces Bitcoin supply.
More importantly, the halving event usually occurs months before the bull cycle, during which BTC’s value could rise by over 8-10x its current value based on historical data. Thus, many investors could be preparing to reap such anticipated profits.
BTC Price Overview
At the time of writing, BTC trades at a market price of $51,585 with a 1.54% gain on the last day. Data from CoinMarketCap shows the market leader has maintained a good recovery arch over the last month, rising by 28.96% during this period. However, BTC is still off by 25.06% from its all-time high value – $68,789.63.