According to data from CryptoQuant, the number of bitcoins held by centralized exchanges has dropped dramatically, and has recently fallen to its lowest level in three years, indicating that investors are in a "hoarding" mood and are less willing to sell bitcoin in the short term.

According to data from CryptoQuant, the number of bitcoins held by centralized exchanges has dropped dramatically, and has recently fallen to its lowest level in three years, indicating that investors are in a "hoarding" mood and are less willing to sell bitcoin in the short term.

On-chain data shows that over the past month, investors have withdrawn more than 51,000 bitcoins from exchanges. Currently, major exchanges hold a total of about 2.61 million bitcoins. The reserve level is the lowest since October 2021.

Institutional "coin hoarding" reappears

Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, said the phenomenon was partly due to Mt. Gox paying compensation to creditors, and that Coinbase's bitcoin reserves were also significantly reduced, reducing potential selling pressure in the market.

He further pointed out that Coinbase's bitcoins are mainly transferred to specific wallets for custody rather than parked in exchanges, which indicates that demand from institutional investors is increasing, especially buying power from companies and Bitcoin spot ETFs.

However, Julio Moreno also emphasized that if the impact of Mt. Gox and Coinbase is excluded, the Bitcoin reserves of major exchanges have actually been relatively stable this year, which also means that the main reason for the current decline in reserves is indeed concentrated in the above two sources.

Since most investors believe in the principle of "Not your keys, not your coins", they usually transfer cryptocurrencies to cold wallets for safekeeping when their long-term beliefs are high, in order to facilitate long-term holding.

The market generally believes that when investors remove a large amount of Bitcoin from exchanges, it also means that a large amount of supply is removed from the open market, which leads to tight supply and increased buying pressure. Therefore, the phenomenon of large amounts of funds flowing out of exchanges is often regarded as a "bullish indicator."

"New whales" are buying strongly, and retail investors are selling out

At the same time, data from CryptoQuant shows that in the past 30 days, new institutional wallets excluding miners and exchanges have increased their holdings of Bitcoin. CryptoQuant analyst JA Maartunn pointed out:

This new accumulation of buying power is something we have never seen before, and the "new whale" is driving the price of Bitcoin higher and holds approximately 1.97 million Bitcoins. "

CryptoQuant's analysis points out that this wave of cumulative buying can be clearly seen in the exchange orders: Coinbase and Bitfinex have strong buying, while Binance and Bybit are mainly shorting. This difference phenomenon also reflects that "large investors are steadily accumulating Bitcoin" while "retail investors are reducing their holdings."

CryptoQuant analysts said that this trend often leads to the gradual exhaustion of retail investors (sellers), and when market sentiment improves, they may re-enter the market at high prices.