Addresses holding at least 1,000 bitcoins, so-called whales, have started accumulating more coins during the recent market recovery. According to Coin Metrics, the addresses had a combined supply of 8.096 million BTC as of February 10, compared to 7.95 million on January 24.
Bitcoin whales and institutional inflows
During Bitcoin’s recovery over the past two weeks, buying sentiment among the wealthiest cryptocurrency investors has risen as Bitcoin rallied from a 2022 low of $33,000 on Jan. 24 to around $43,500 on Feb. 11. rise.
Small bitcoin investors with addresses holding less than 1 BTC also joined the accumulation frenzy during the recent bitcoin price rally.
At the same time, the data resource Ecoinometrics presents the Coin Metrics data in the form of clusters, showing the simultaneous accumulation behavior of Bitcoin whales and fish.
Interestingly, these clusters look the same as before BTC hit an all-time high of $69,000 in November 2021.
Ecoinometrics analyst Nick wrote in a report released on the 7th by the Fed: “The rebound in prices in this cycle is closely related to the simultaneous buying of fish and whales for an extended period of time,” he added:
“I don’t know if this signal will continue to signal a sustained rally, but hey, it’s working fine for now.”
A report from CoinShares this week also showed an increase in inflows to crypto funds last week. Notably, injections into these funds have quadrupled to $85 billion, with $71 million flowing into bitcoin-focused investment products, suggesting renewed institutional interest is also driving BTC’s price recovery.
‘It’s just heating up now’
Nick sees ample room for Bitcoin’s valuation to grow in the coming months, citing what’s called a “composite risk score” derived from four parameters: risk of market overextension, risk of low demand and high supply scenarios, risk Holders take profits, and the risk of increased selling pressure.
The results are shown in red and blue, indicating that the market is hot and cold, respectively. The hotter the market, the greater the selling pressure.
“Right now it’s just heating up,” the Ecoinometrics analyst said, adding that “in theory, there’s no impediment to price gains other than a lack of momentum.”
BTC price levels to watch
Meanwhile, an on-chain data-tracking plan from Whalemap projects Bitcoin’s “current resistance range” at $46,200 to $49,000, citing higher activity in this price zone in the past.
Likewise, the company noted that the $41,400 to $42,400 range is now acting as support, as shown in the chart below.
It noted: “Based on the accumulation of whales, the closest on-chain resistance is only around $47,000.