Bitcoin whales shifting out suggests research house
The overall value of the market is now put at roughly $1.1trn.
Bitcoin whales have been trimming their holdings in the cryptocurrency, according to the latest report from research house Glassnode.
The price of Bitcoin has dropped to around US$55,200 from its recent highs of US$62,000, with the report suggesting some of the largest holders had been easing out of the cryptocurrency.
Glassnode said that “transfers” from long-term bitcoin holders to newer speculators had risen recently in a manner similar to previous falls in the price.
These reactivations or transfers were ‘similar to the second half or later stages of a bull market’, Glassnode said, which estimates that the biggest holders with between 1,000 to 10,000 had cut their holdings by 307,000 bitcoin since December.
Some switching might be understandable given how well Bitcoin has performed over the past year.
Over the past twelve months, the value of the cryptocurrency has risen by around 700% and even with the recent dip has still roughly doubled since the start of 2021.
On the basis of around 18.7m coins in circulation, the overall value of the market is now put at roughly $1.1trn.
Commentators still see more mileage in the crypto, nonetheless, with one, Bobby Lee the founder of crypto exchange BTCC, telling CNBC yesterday he saw the price rising to above US$100,000 this year though afterwards the price might slide by as much as 90% and stay depressed for years.
Bitcoin bull market cycles come around every four years, he said, and this is ‘a big one’.
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