Author: Stephen Katte, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Baishui, Golden Finance
The number of Bitcoin wallets holding 100 BTC or more just hit a 17-month high after a surge in holdings over the past month.
Data shared by blockchain analytics platform Santiment in an August 31 X post showed that more than 283 wallets managed to break the 100 BTC mark in August.
Source: Santiment
"The number of Bitcoin whales is growing as cryptocurrency prices disappoint retail investors. In just one month, there was a net increase of 283 wallets holding at least 100 BTC," said Santiment.
“There are currently 16,120 such wallets on the network, breaking a 17-month high.”
During the same period, Santiment reported that wallets with at least 10 Bitcoins, dubbed “sharks,” were also increasing their holdings.
Overall, the blockchain analytics platform estimates that all of these wallets (holding between 10 and 10,000 bitcoins) have accumulated a total of more than 133,000 bitcoins worth more than $7.6 billion over the past 30 days.
Whales Gobble Up More Crypto as Small Traders Exit
Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream and inventor of Hashcash, noted that whales have been on a buying spree since the price of Bitcoin dropped from over $62,000 to around $58,000 on August 28.
"Whales have been buying 450 bitcoins per minute every day since the price drop on the 28th. The same amount of bitcoins mined every day. Keep selling them corn cheap," he said.
Source: Adam Back
Santiment attributes the increase in whale activity to “small traders” who “continue to impatiently dump their holdings into them.”
Crypto analyst and CryptoQuant contributor Axel Adler Jr speculated in a Sept. 1 post on X that small traders may be feeling the pressure to sell as prices fall below their entry points.
“In the current bull run, this indicator has not fallen below 17% and the current figure is -8%. If it continues to fall, the number of people willing to sell their tokens at a loss may double,” he said.
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which measures crypto market sentiment, is currently at 26, indicating a state of “fear.” Throughout August, the index showed more fearful days than greedy days, with an average rating of 37, placing it firmly in “fear” territory.
Nonetheless, Bitgrow Lab founder Vivek Sen believes that the increase in whale activity could be a positive sign for the market.
Source: Vivek Sen
He said that historically, large whale purchases have tended to foreshadow new highs in the price of Bitcoin.
“The last time whales bought heavily, Bitcoin hit new highs,” Sen said.
