Bitcoin whales multiply while impoverished: report

Bitcoin whales are back, but they are poorer than before, according to a report released today by Blockchain research company Glassnode.

For the first time since 2016, the number of Bitcoin whales, large owners who own at least 1,000 Bitcoin (more than $ 9 million in cryptocurrency), is increasing. (OK, then maybe just less rich which is more appropriate before.)

But while there are new whales on the market, and the total The balance of Bitcoin held by whales has also started to rise For the first time since 2016, “individual whales are not getting richer,” Glassnode noted.

“Despite the increase in whale stocks this year, the balance of Bitcoin held by whales is still well below the peak,” wrote Liesl Eichholz in “New Bitcoin Whales: Where Do They Come From?” He noted that the highest USD wealth was reached during the bull market in late 2017, when Bitcoin’s price nearly reached $ 20,000.

But today’s crypto whales aren’t as big as they once were, as Bitcoin’s average wealth per whale declined slightly during 2020.

“While the whales as a group are beginning to accumulate more wealth once again, the individual whales are becoming a little poorer,” wrote Eichholz of Glassnode. “The average balance of BTC held by whales (that is, the average BTC wealth of each whale) has decreased since 2011, and has not increased significantly in 2020 along with the number of whales.”

Eichholz said the increase in whales is due in part to the fact that whales hoard more Bitcoin than before and to the emergence of new whales because they have took the digital asset out of the exchanges.

The massive withdrawals from the exchanges are due in part to the collapse of Black Thursday in March, when the largest cryptocurrency by market cap lost more than 20% of its value in less than a day

Is may because the whales wanted “to go into the fund and then withdraw their bitcoins to HODL in the long term in anticipation of the next bullfight,” the report said.

Eichholz also said in the report that the increase in Bitcoin wealth that whales are accumulating is not yet “highly significant,” but it could be if the trend continues.

The report added that the amount of Bitcoin held by whales has decreased in the past five years, dropping more than 22% from 6.7 million to 5.2 million, but this year more whales have entered and has therefore started to increase.

And the dominance of whales in the market is also experiencing its largest sustained increase since 2011. Previously, after experiencing an almost constant decline for nearly a decade, Eichholz noted.

One thing is for sure: unless we have that expected confinement, the whales will not be as good as before.