Bitcoin whales are on the move – Here’s why that could be important

• Nearly 10 addresses were added to the whale cohort in the last two weeks.
• Exchange Whale Ratio was on the lower side, suggesting less outflows from whales.

Despite an underwhelming price performance, large investors have increased their Bitcoin [BTC] holdings over the last few weeks.

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Prominent on-chain sleuth Ali Martinez took to social platform X to highlight the growth in the number of whale addresses on the Bitcoin network. The data, sourced from Glassnode, showed that nearly 10 addresses were added to the cohort in the last two weeks.

In the past two weeks, about 10 #Bitcoin whales, each holding at least 1,000 $BTC (worth a minimum of $29.4 million), have joined the network! pic.twitter.com/TyOHkt1emi

— Ali Charts (@alicharts) August 13, 2023

Whales gobble Bitcoins

Most organizations that track on-chain activity define whales as wallets that store at least 1000 coins at any particular time. Whale movements have become the subject of intensive scrutiny over the years, providing traders and analysts with valuable clues into market sentiment.

Because they own a considerable portion of BTC’s circulating supply, these powerful investors contribute significantly to price changes through their transaction activity. An increase in whale ownership typically indicates a long-term bullish trend.

BTC’s price has been stagnant in recent weeks, and during such times of inactivity, whale investors strategically enter into accumulation mode. As per data from Santiment, whale transactions hit a 3-week high earlier this week.

Looking at the price action, it appeared that whales bought the dip, after short-term holders liquidated their stashes following the gains made in the previous day.

In for the long haul

The Exchange Whale Ratio indicator provided additional evidence that whales were stockpiling for the big game.

Exchange Whale Ratio is basically the relative size of the top 10 inflow transactions to total inflows on an exchange, according to CryptoQuant. Put simply, it is a measure of how frequently whales were using the exchanges when compared to the rest of the market.

At the time of the publication, the metric showed a reading of 0.39, suggesting considerably low outflows from whale wallets.

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Big chunk of supply in long-term holders’ hands

Long-term investors have warmed up to Bitcoin’s narrative of a safe haven asset and an inflation hedge. Consequently, the sentiment has shifted towards HODLing rather than trading.

According to a recent post by Will Clemente, long-term holders controlled more than three-fourths of Bitcoin’s total circulating supply.

The percentage of Bitcoin's supply held by long-term holders just crossed 75% pic.twitter.com/gFrxUsxs6I

— Will (@WClemente) August 14, 2023