According to Santiment, a popular crypto data analytics platform, Bitcoin’s landscape has experienced significant shifts in the past month in this ever-evolving world of cryptocurrencies. There is what seems to be an obvious redistribution between different-sized wallets, which correlates with the rise of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) as major market players.
Findings by Santiment indicate that wallets holding 1,000 or more Bitcoins have increased remarkably, with a significant leap of 147 wallets representing a rise of 7.4% in the past month. Meanwhile, wallets having between 1 and 1,000 bitcoins went down slightly by 0.1%, leaving this range with fewer wallets amounting to a total of 1,237 reduced wallets. Also, there was a decline in the number of wallets containing less than one BTC, which was estimated to be about 509,000, thus representing a percentage drop of one percent.
This data follows Santiment’s earlier X post (tweet,) which showed that 729,400 BTC wallets with more than zero Bitcoins had vanished as compared to the previous month. In what appears to be a turning point in the cryptocurrency landscape, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) authorized 11 Spot Bitcoin ETFs at the same time as these shifts took place.
Remarkably, January 20th marked the highest number of non-zero wallets – where it was at its peak, reaching 52.95 million. Consequently, there has been a surge in interest among long-term holders of Bitcoin, known as “hodlers”, following these ETF approvals by SEC. This renewed enthusiasm is indicated through different wallet sizes for BTC, an indication of repositioning assets due to changing market forces.
Mixed Bitcoin Behavior Among Whales
In the midst of this dynamic landscape, analyst Ali poses a question: “Are Bitcoin whales buying or selling?” According to Ali’s analysis, crypto whales are exhibiting divergent behavior towards the recent price movements, seen with some selling their holdings to take advantage of it while others are taking the opportunity to buy more BTC. It is evident that within this large whale cohort—holding from 1,000 up to 100,000 BTC- there is an accumulation scheme that positively demonstrates a bullish mood.
This trend of accumulation associated mostly with phases of market optimism and upward thrusts, implies a positive outlook by these critical stakeholders. Starting at around $29,000, these guys went on a strategic buying spree, which got more serious as Bitcoin moved up through $46k capping, their confidence in the further appreciation potential of this cryptocurrency amid short-lived flutters.
However, the recent fluctuations observed in bitcoin wallet distribution illustrate how regulatory decisions and institutional developments influence the broader crypto ecosystem to shape its trajectory moving forward.