Before 2021, Bitcoin was a paradise for speculators. Many people became "whales" because of the crazy appreciation of Bitcoin, but they were mostly individual investors.
Starting from 2021, listed companies and capital institutions began to enter the market in large numbers. At that time, the world's richest man Musk called for Dogecoin, and Tesla's purchase of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin became news headlines. But unfortunately, these institutions are still just "small shrimps" in the market, and Bitcoin whales still dominate.
However, after the world's largest asset management companies BlackRock and Fidelity Group applied for Bitcoin ETFs in 2023, the situation became different, especially after the ETF was officially approved by the US SEC. So far, the US ETF has held more than 1 million BTC, worth about $100 billion. The listed company MSTR has spent tens of billions of dollars to purchase more than 330,000 BTC by issuing stocks and bonds, worth about $30 billion. Looking back at Tesla's $1.5 billion purchase of Bitcoin in 2021, it is simply not worth mentioning.
According to glasssnode data, after the Bitcoin ETF was approved in January, BTC hit new highs. By March, long-term investors sold more than 900,000 BTC. After Bitcoin rose again in September, the group now sold more than 500,000 BTC. This is a considerable scale.
There is no doubt that these sold chips were taken over by institutions. After this cycle, BTC will really be dominated by institutions. Due to the rapid increase from $70,000 to $100,000, there is a certain "air gap" below. The market needs to consolidate this area before trying to break through $100,000, so when the market is close to $100,000, long-term investors also sold on a large scale.
