The number of Bitcoin (BTC) whale transactions worth more than $100,000 has fallen 48% since March 2024, while the Bitcoin price has fallen 20% over the same period.
So how have the actions of Bitcoin’s wealthiest investors affected its price? And how much BTC do whales hold on average?
Bitcoin addresses holding more than 1,000 BTC hold 40% of the supply.
According to data from data analytics platform Santiment, BTC whale trading volumes peaked at 115.1K between March 13 and March 19, before dropping to 60.2K in the last week of August.
Despite a decline in whale activity over the past six months, long-term cumulative whale speech remains relatively high.
According to data from Intotheblock, Bitcoin addresses holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC account for the largest share of the total Bitcoin supply, at 24.17%.
As you can see in the chart below, addresses holding 10-100 BTC and 100-1,000 BTC also account for a large proportion of the supply, at 22.08% and 20.32%, respectively.
Bitcoin ownership chart. Source: intotheblock
Until March 2019, addresses holding 10–100 BTC accounted for the largest share of the BTC supply, but since then the number of Bitcoin whales (those holding at least 1,000 BTC) has increased.
Bitcoin balance by holdings. Source: Intotheblock
The supply held by whales (1,000 BTC-10,000 BTC) peaked in January 2021, reaching 30% of the total. Since then, it has fallen to 24.17%, with a redistribution between the other two groups.
What is the average whale storage capacity?
The above cohort holds close to 60% of the supply, but the average supply per whale is less than 1000. According to on-chain data from Glassnode, the current supply per whale is close to 550 BTC.
Bitcoin supply per whale (100-10K BTC). Source: glassnode
However, it is important to note that in the chart above, addresses with more than 100 BTC are considered whales.
Specifically, the Whale Supply Index was originally created by Charles Edwards to measure the accumulation and distribution behavior of large Bitcoin holders.
It is defined as the total supply owned by addresses holding between 100 and 10,000 BTC divided by the number of addresses.
Therefore, it increases during the whale gathering period and decreases during the distribution period.
However, if we consider addresses holding 1,000-10,000 BTC or more as legitimate whales, the average supply per address is around 2,401.
Whale accumulation heatmap shows support at $52K BTC.
Source: Chainexposed
The Bitcoin Whale Accumulation Heatmap shows that around $52,000 BTC is supported by a large group of buyers. The data shows high buyer concentration from $51.5K to $52.3K during February 2024.
What’s interesting is that since whales gathered in that range in Q1 2024, the BTC price has risen by 42%.
BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
If Bitcoin corrects back to that range, the same range could act as both a demand and support zone.
relevant: Even as Bitcoin price nears $60,000, traders still see September as a bearish month.
Bitcoin is up 2% in the last 24 hours but is currently facing resistance at the 200-day EMA (orange indicator).
This article does not contain any investment advice or recommendations. All investment and trading moves involve risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making decisions.