The number of Bitcoin addresses holding at least 100 BTC has recently spiked to almost 16,000. Those participants collectively own 11.5 million BTC, adding almost 28K BTC in the last 12 weeks.
Bitcoin sharks and long-term holders have also shown a rising interest in the leading digital asset during the first half of the year, which saw the asset’s price climbing above $30,000. In addition, the sector was infused with optimism following the numerous applications from finance giants such as BlackRock, Invesco, VanEck, and others, all of which filed to launch a spot BTC ETF in the United States.
The Recent Uptrend
The cryptocurrency market intelligence platform Santiment revealed that bitcoin addresses holding at least 100 BTC (equaling $2.9 million at current prices) have surged to 15,870.
These whales have purchased 27,755 BTC during the past three months and currently possess 11.5 million BTC (worth $334 billion), or nearly 60% of the asset’s total circulating supply.
According to Santiment’s figures, the latest accumulation spree started in mid-May when Bitcoin was trading at around $27,000 and intensified in June and July.
The cryptocurrency industry received some revival shots during the first months of the summer, coming from the multiple spot BTC ETF filings and Ripple’s landmark victory in the legal battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
One can observe, though, that such whales held more BTC in February and the beginning of March when the price of the primary cryptocurrency was less than $25,000, whereas America’s banking sector was going through a severe crisis.
Not Only the Whales
It seems like BlackRock’s ambition to introduce a spot BTC ETF in the States granted more confidence to large Bitcoin investors who bought a substantial amount of the asset shortly after the filing.
As CryptoPotato reported last month, BTC sharks and whales accumulated 71,000 BTC between mid-June (when the world’s largest asset manager filed with the SEC) and July 8.
The general optimism among investors could be explained by the fact that BlackRock has an outstanding record with America’s securities regulator, seeing only one out of its 576 ETFs rejected over the years.
Long-term holders (those who have been part of the ecosystem for at least the past 155 days) have also purchased considerable quantities during H1, 2023. The supply they own has recently spiked to an all-time high of 14.52 million BTC
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Source: https://cryptopotato.com/why-do-large-btc-addresses-keep-buying-bitcoin-in-the-past-3-months/