Number of Bitcoin Whales With More Than 1000 BTC Hits New ATH

Recently crypto analysts on social media announced the number of Bitcoin addresses holding more than 1000 Bitcoins recorded a new all-time high. 

#Bitcoin addresses holding over 1000 $BTC hit a new all-time-high.

This year alone 164 addresses got added, currently worth $6 billion.

chart: @glassnode pic.twitter.com/LKllhCO5Kz

— unfolded. (@cryptounfolded) January 20, 2021

Theories Behind the Increase in Bitcoin Addresses

According to the chart provided by Glassnode, the number of BTC addresses with more than $32.2 billion has surpassed the 2400 mark.

It shows a steady increase in the wallet numbers from Mid last year to date. The year 2020 alone has added 164 addresses to the tally, whose total cumulative is approximately $6 billion. The milestone comes just weeks after Chainalysis revealed a previous all-time high late last year tallied at 2,274.

There have been several narratives trying to break down how the rising tally is happening. BTC analysts’ most given reason is an increase in institutional investors, who supplement the so-called ‘rich list.’ Recent times have seen several companies investing millions of dollars in Bitcoin following the coin’s bullish run.

Bitcoin’s price in January 2021 reached an ATH itself with a value of $40k. Recent weeks have seen its value drop to $32k. However, it doesn’t seem to have affected the increase in the addresses with more than 1000 BTC.

Companies such as MicroStrategy have taken the Bitcoin investment route, with the company holding over 70k BTC. The CEO of the company, Michael Saylor, has publicly admitted to being a holder of more than 17k of the crypto. It places him among the top 100 Bitcoin holders globally. The CEO also said that he was buying $1,000 in BTC per second at a point in time last year. 

Several opinions have been raised on whether the majority holders of these addresses are individuals or institutions. Nevertheless, the assumption stands that only institutions have the highest capabilities to buy such a large number of BTC in a short period.

What Bitcoin Investors are Visualizing

Whether it’s a small scale or large scale, the number of BTC addresses has been accelerating. According to crypto analysts, investors looking to save themselves from the many problems facing fiat currencies resort to Bitcoin. 

Last year, BTC analyst Jason Deane stated that the upward trend would continue, and without a doubt, it has. He said, “This trend increases over time, as more and more high net worth individuals look for safe havens against fiat currencies across the globe.” 

Nonetheless, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said it is much safer to hold gold than Bitcoin because its price is volatile compared to the precious metal.