TL;DR Breakdown
- Bitcoin addresses holding balances of at least 10,000 coins are declining. Glassnode puts the current figure at an all-time low of 82.
- The crypto sector has been weighing in on the development. Experts hold that the dip in wallet figures isn’t indicative of bearish tendencies.
Bitcoin (BTC) addresses holding balances of at least 10 thousand coins are at a historic low. Colin Wu, the award-winning Chinese journalist, has revealed.
He broke the news on Twitter, quoting Glassnode, the on-chain market analysis firm. In their data, the firm indicated that the addresses stand at 82 as of 17 October 2021.
The figures have been free-falling throughout this year. At the year’s start, Glassnode reported that the addresses stood at 115. They’d fallen to slightly above 90 in March. And now they’ve dipped further, hitting an all-time low (ATL) of 82.
In contrast, the number of Bitcoin addresses with balances of between 10 – 1000 BTC is growing. Santiment, another market analyst, says that this segment grew by 254 wallets in five weeks. The figure represented a 1.9% growth over the period.
Bitcoin enthusiasts weighing in on the news
Wu’s tweet has drawn differing opinions from crypto enthusiasts. One user, Ismael of @vismashoar, suggested that the decline in those addresses foretold a dump. He claimed that the whales were selling because they were on to something.
Qaisar Ali of @QaisarAli1293 and John Moses of @AndroidX55 share Ismael’s sentiments. Ali questions if a dump is imminent while Moses seems to imply that an altseason is about.
But none puts it as bluntly as @cosmicp01. Replying to Wu, he says that the development indicates that big holders are exiting this scam. By this scam meaning Bitcoin.
On his part, @CryptoReggae holds that the metric is useless. He explains that if he has 10,000 BTC and divides it into 100 addresses, he remains as before. To him, such metrics are a ruse used to market a product.
And he isn’t the only one with such thoughts. Another user identifying himself as @CryptoEllinWood concurs with him. He says the dip could be a result of some splitting their BTC holdings into multiple wallets.
Still, others choose to see the positive side of the news. One contributor, @hellocgs, says that is a good signal. The exit of whales relieves the network of manipulation.
Bitcoin is on an impressive run.
Analysts say the drop in the wallet holders isn’t anything to worry about. If anything, BTC is bullish. Again, all indicators point to it maintaining that run.
They agree that some BTC holders could be diversifying their holdings. They’re dividing their balances between multiple addresses as a hedge against risk.
Additionally, this continued decline of whales is a positive thing for the BTC network. It means that the network is undergoing distribution. This, in turn, is welcome as it entrenched decentralization.
As the debate rages, the crypto continues its bullish run. At the time of writing, it’s exchanging at $60,995. 80. This figure is about 6 percent short of its all-time high of B$64, 863.10.
BTC’s impressive run continues elsewhere. For instance, the number of addresses in profit has hit an all-time high of over 62 million. Conversely, the number of addresses in loss is at a five-month ATL of about 2 million.
