The number of so-called whales or network entities owning at least 1,000 BTC jumped to 1,678 early this week, reaching the highest since January 2021, according to data tracked by Glassnode and Bitwise. This growing accumulation by large holders, alongside solid uptake for alternative vehicles, especially the U.S.-listed spot ETFs, suggests increasing confidence in bitcoin’s price prospects.
Analysts at CryptoQuant reported that retail investor accumulation has slowed as the cryptocurrency’s price nears $70,000. “Retail holdings have risen by just 1K Bitcoin in the last thirty days, a historically slow pace,” they told CoinDesk.