Bitcoin could see short-term price surge amid increased whale activity

Bitcoin has been moving sideways recently, but a key indicator shows a potential price surge might be ahead.

The Bitcoin (BTC) price has been consolidating close to the $59,000 mark over the past day with a brief surge to $60,680 earlier. BTC is up by 0.6% in the past 24 hours and is trading at $58,900 at the time of writing.

Moreover, the flagship cryptocurrency witnessed a 24% increase in its daily trading volume, currently hovering around $34.8 billion. 

According to data provided by Santiment, the total funding rate aggregated by Bitcoin plunged to negative 0.0016% — showing that traders are betting on the asset’s price fall. However, the BTC price has historically recorded short-term gains as the funding rate dropped to the red zone.

Data from the market intelligence platform shows that Bitcoin also saw increased whale activity. Per Santiment, the number of whale transactions consisting of at least $100,000 worth of BTC rose from 5,148 to 8,234 unique transactions over the past 24 hours.

At this point, whales are showing their readiness for short-term profit-taking.

According to data from Santiment, the Bitcoin exchange inflows increased by 119% in the last day — rising from 20,255 to 44,323 BTC tokens. The asset’s exchange outflow also surged from 24,911 to 40,378 Bitcoins in the same timeframe.

Notably, the 365-day BTC dormant circulation also increased from 1,402 to 4,444 BTC tokens over the past day, per Santiment. The movement shows that long-term Bitcoin holders might try to take profits at this price point.

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States recorded $27.8 million in inflows on Aug. 12. This also adds to Bitcoin’s bullish momentum after a bearish start to August.