Bitcoin addresses holding at least 1,000 BTC are climbing again despite the BTC price reaching over $70,000 for the first time.
Bitcoin whales are not in a rush to sell into the current rally that propelled Bitcoin to new heights above $70,000, the latest on-chain data suggests.
The number of unique addresses holding at least 1,000 Bitcoin — known as whales — has risen to 2,104 addresses as of March 7.
However, this is still lower than the record of 2,489 addresses reached in February 2021, when Bitcoin was trading above $46,000.
The rising wallet count could also be attributed to the United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which surpassed $52.5 billion in cumulative trading volume on March 4.
The fact that whales are not selling their Bitcoin at these levels suggests that they expect prices to rise further. Bitcoin whales are important because the size of their trades can significantly impact price.
Julio Moreno, the head of research at on-chain intelligence firm CryptoQuant, also took note of the growth in a March 7 X post. Moreno wrote:
“The growth of whales’ Bitcoin holdings is going parabolic.”Further evidence of Bitcoin whales not rushing to dump their holdings comes from several metrics measuring volumes between whales and exchanges.
Meanwhile, the transfer volume from whales to exchanges has only seen a modest uptick compared to previous bull and bear market periods.
Overall, these metrics suggest a big influx of new investors into Bitcoin and that there is little sign of profit-taking by wealthy investors despite record high-level BTC prices.
On a fundamental level, spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States continue driving demand for BTC. The BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), for example, recorded its highest daily inflows of $788 million on March 5.
As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin’s next big target could be around $92,500, based on a mix of technical, on-chain and fundamental indicators. Notably, Bitcoin charts recently printed a triangular formation resembling a bull pennant, widely regarded as a bullish continuation pattern.