Number of Bitcoin whale addresses surges as BTC pushes for $9k

Bitcoin whales are reportedly returning to the market, due to the price movement of the largest cryptocurrency towards the $9,000 level and other activities. These big investors are beginning to bag Bitcoin again, according to the information provided by Glassnode.

As of Wednesday, the seven-day moving average for the total number of addresses with at least 10,000 BTC and above increased to 111. This is considered as the biggest point since the second day of August 2019. Earlier in March, this reported number raised by over 11 percent.

The activities of long-term holders might have influenced this development as well. The co-founder of the stack, Matthew Dibb, commented that the rise in the number of Bitcoin whale addresses might probably be triggered by the return of the long-term investors looking to increase their digital currency holdings.

Why are Bitcoin whales making a return?

Considerably, the rapid growing Interest with Bitcoin whales and the long-term investors are largely related to the activities within BTC’s ecosystem. Among other things, includes the upcoming Bitcoin halving, which has been hyped within and outside the cryptocurrency industry.

The founder of Coincurve, Wayne Chen, acknowledged that many Bitcoin whale addresses are owned by individuals or a group of persons with huge net worth. Chen further noted that the Increment in such addresses is as a result of the owners trying to diversify into BTC ahead of the halving event, as well as the fear for COVID-19.

This is why everyone looks forward to Bitcoin mining

Bitcoin was built to reach 21 million maximum supply, nothing above that. The largest cryptocurrency is pre-programmed to undergo halving in mining reward every four years, in a bid to control inflation.

Hence, the Bitcoin mining reward will be cut by 50 percent by March 12, after which miners will start earning 6.25 BTC instead of the current 12.5 BTC. This event is expected and speculated by many industry participants to put Bitcoin in a bullish move, as witnessed in the previous halving event.

This can be considered as the top reason behind the increase in the number of Bitcoin whale addresses. Meanwhile, it is worth having in mind that the report doesn’t necessarily signal an influx of new Bitcoin whales, as exchanges and individuals can hold several addresses.