Number Of Bitcoin Whales Has Declined To Lowest Point Since December 2012
The number of Bitcoin whales — person or entity holding more than 1000 BTC – has dropped to its lowest point in history.
According to journalist Colin Wu, data from blockchain metrics site Glassnode shows that the number of Bitcoin addresses holding 1,000 Bitcoins or more is at a record low of 82.
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
Last time the number of whales was so low was on December 15, 2012 – four years after Bitcoin launched. Back then, only 81 wallets held 1,000 Bitcoins or more, and one Bitcoin was worth $13.51. Today, the number one cryptocurrency by market capitalization is worth $60,757—roughly 450,000% higher than it was back in December 2012.
Wu also pointed out on Twitter that data from Sanbase records that “the number of addresses holding 100 to 1,000 BTC has increased significantly in the past five weeks.”
Considering that 100 Bitcoins is worth just over $6,000,000 the data highlights that mid-tier Bitcoin whales have been on the rise since early September, despite the declining number of 1,000 BTC whales.
There are number of major industry developments that may have contributed to the ‘gold rush’. First is El Salvador’s decision to accept the currency as legal tender on September 7 this year. The decision was taken in spite of overwhelming protest from both residents and the political opposition.
This week saw a surge due to anticipation of the launch of ProShare’s Bitcoin Futures Exchange-Traded Fund. The ETF will be the first of its kind in the US, and will enable investors to get exposure to Bitcoin with all the safeguards of a regulated investment product. That’s huge news for Bitcoin’s institutional adoption in the US.
The latest rise continues Bitcoin’s surge from earlier this year. On April 14, it set an all-time high of $64,863 before dwindling down to a 2021 low of $29,807 on July 20. Since then Bitcoin’s been picking up, and at today’s price it’s not far off its former all-time high.
Interestingly, according to research by crypto market maker B2C2, retail investors haven’t been driving this recent rally (which they were in April-May). This time its the family offices.
Goldman Sachs recently surveyed over 150 family offices and concluded that nearly a fifth of them were keen to explore crypto as a potential hedge against inflation, so B2C2’s research might indicate a strengthening of their position with regards to crypto.
Also, Goldman Sachs itself published a report earlier in May calling Bitcoin a ‘legitimate asset class’ This is a complete U-turn from its former position the previous year, that crypto was unambiguously not a legitimate asset class.
In all this this light it may be that the old whales who bitcoin when it was still worth double-digits might be on decline, but as the number of smaller whales grows, it seems enough to keep feeding the market.
