According to a report from CryptoQuant, a remarkable phenomenon occurred in 2024: “new whales” are accumulating huge amounts of Bitcoin (BTC). These whales are new wallets, holding at least 1,000 BTC (equivalent to about $67 million) and less than 155 days old, not wallets from centralized exchanges (CEXs) or miners. The total amount of BTC held by these wallets has increased to nearly 2 million $BTC , with a total value of about $134 billion. This is a record accumulation, reflected in large transactions on exchanges such as Coinbase and Bitfinex.
CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn emphasized that this sudden accumulation is unprecedented, and it has pushed BTC back to $68,000. Importantly, not only Spot BTC ETFs but also many other large individuals and institutions are actively participating in the market. The strong buying power of whales is evident in the order books, especially on major exchanges like Coinbase and Bitfinex, while exchanges like Binance and Bybit are facing significant short pressure.
Additionally, the amount of BTC held on centralized exchanges (CEXs) has dropped to its lowest level since CryptoQuant began tracking in October 2021. BTC balances on CEXs are now around 2.5 million, down nearly 600,000 BTC from the end of 2021. In the past month alone, more than 51,000 BTC (about $3.4 billion) were withdrawn from major exchanges, indicating a downward trend in the circulating supply of BTC on these exchanges and reflecting the long-term holding strategy of large investors.
The active withdrawal of BTC from CEX exchanges by large institutions could be a sign of preparation for large transactions or confidence in BTC's upside potential. The launch of Spot BTC ETFs in the US and acceptance by major financial institutions in 2024 have contributed to this trend.
Although BTC is currently trading around $67,000, down slightly by 2% over the past 24 hours, with strong institutional buying and a scarcity of BTC on exchanges, the possibility of BTC breaking its ATH (all-time high) could happen soon if capital continues to flow into the market. However, the increase in BTC dominance has also prevented many altcoins from growing strongly, with some low-cap coins on Binance such as #JUP, #BAR, and#CITYbeing rare exceptions.
