Bitcoin Whale Holdings Plummet to 29-Month Low – Has BTC Bottomed Out?

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Fredrik Vold

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Fredrik Vold

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October 23, 2023 08:44 EDT

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Holdings of bitcoin (BTC) by some of the largest whales in the ecosystem have dropped to its lowest level in 29 months, as the macroeconomic backdrop has continued to worsen and put pressure on the bitcoin price.

The latest decline in whale holdings means that this key metric to watch has now fallen for 11 months in a row, reaching 45.72% of the circulating BTC supply – a level not seen since April of 2020.

The finding was first shared by crypto intelligence firm Santiment on Twitter. Santiment defined the whales in question as addresses holding between 100 and 10,000 BTC.

In the tweet, the firm attributed the fall in whale investment interest to “fears of inflation and a world recession […].”

🐳 The amount of #Bitcoin held by whales has been dropping for 11 months now. As fears of #inflation and a world #recession continue, addresses holding 100 to 10k $BTC have lowered their percentage of supply held of #crypto's top asset to 29-month lows. https://t.co/YP55vxCfJr pic.twitter.com/2tAIvOsD2i

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) September 25, 2022

The so-called whales in the data are likely to include many crypto exchanges and commercial players, and not just individual holders.

Worth noting about the reduced holding by whale addresses is that this first and foremost means that bitcoins are becoming more evenly distributed. When large holders control a smaller share of the supply, this necessarily also entails that smaller holders control a larger share of the supply.

In addition to the coins becoming more distributed across the network, a decline in whale holdings could also be a sign that some of the largest bitcoin investors are in the process of ‘capitulating’ after a prolonged period of lower prices. And although this may sound dramatic, it is widely seen as a necessary step before the bitcoin price can find a bottom and begin its next bullish cycle.

And while Santiment’s data showed that even the largest holders are in the process of losing interest in Bitcoin, crypto analytics firm Glassnode said in its latest The Week Onchain report that the coin has shown strength.

“As the evaporation in global liquidity continues, emphasized by new local highs on the DXY index, Bitcoin has remarkably shown a degree of relative strength,” the report said, while pointing to the fact that BTC has remained mostly rangebound in the $18k to 19k area.

Still, the report warned that the price is “just barely hanging on” to lows seen in July, and that a drop below that level could mean a “further capitulation.”

As of 12:50 UTC on Thursday, BTC traded at USD 19,195, up 0.5% for the past 24 hours and up 3.6% for the past 7 days.