BTC and wBTC whales are signaling to HODLers: Should you harken

• BTC and wBTC whales have been more active than usual in recent weeks as BTC prices continue to rise.
• Long-term holders have reached a breakeven point, signaling a strong bull trend, but a price correction may be imminent.

This week has seen a significant influx of Bitcoin [BTC] whales as the price of BTC continued its ascent. Yet, the growth in whale behaviors did not originate with Bitcoin on the network alone, but rather with wrapped versions on other networks. The present upswing has also shifted the playing field for long-term investors.

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BTC and wrapped wBTC whales on the rise

Throughout the past weeks, both BTC whales and Wrapped Bitcoin [wBTC] whales have been more active than usual. According to Santiment, the number of transactions made by BTC whales had climbed over the past several weeks, and as of this writing, had surpassed 13,000. The number of wBTC transactions has also been growing in recent weeks, with over 100 of them as of this writing.

Source: Santiment

For BTC, the level of whale activity was at its greatest point in the previous 16 weeks. The whale transaction count was also on the rise for wBTC, reaching its highest level in 15 weeks. Whale transactions are often transactions that total over 100,000.

Understanding wBTC

wBTC is a cryptocurrency that is backed by Bitcoin. The purpose of wBTC is to enable Bitcoin holders to use their BTC to access decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and smart contracts on the Ethereum [ETH] network. To get wBTC, a user sends their BTC to a custodian who holds the BTC in reserve and issues an equivalent amount of wBTC on the Ethereum network. 

The wrapped version can then be used to access a wide range of DeFi applications, such as decentralized exchanges, lending and borrowing platforms, and other blockchain-based financial services. wBTC can also be traded for other ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network and as collateral for loans and other financial transactions.

Long-term holders can breathe a sigh of relief

According to a recent post on Glassnode, as BTC continued its upward trajectory and the number of whale transactions grew, the realized value by Long-Term Holders likewise surpassed the breakeven point.

Source: CryptoQuant

This accomplishment was noteworthy since it was the first time the SOPR had achieved a break-even point since the Terra [LUNA] collapse. As of this writing, BTC was over 1.1 according to the Long-Term Holder SOPR on CryptoQuant.

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BTC maintains a strong bull trend

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicated that Bitcoin was in a strong bull trend at press time. Looking at the price movement on the daily period chart, its RSI line had risen above 70 and had entered the overbought zone. It had a gain of less than 1% as of the time of writing and was trading at over $28,000. 

Source: TradingView

Although the price was still heading upward and trading above the long and short moving averages (blue and yellow lines), a price correction may be imminent.