Bitcoin Whales Sell 50,000 BTC Worth $2.2 Billion, Is The Rally Over?

The flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, seems to be cooling off following months of experiencing a resurgence on the back of the Spot Bitcoin ETF potential approval rumors. This has led to concerns that the rally might be over, a theory that is boosted by the recent action of the largest holders of the crypto token.

In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) platform, crypto analyst Ali Martinez highlighted a report from the market intelligence platform Santiment, which showed that Bitcoin whales had sold around 50,000 BTC over the past week. This has raised eyebrows as many speculate why these whales are offloading some of their Bitcoin holdings.

Coincidentally, these sales follow a similar trend from institutional investors as CoinShares’ latest weekly report noted that there were minor outflows from digital asset funds last week. These funds are said to have seen an outflow totaling $16 million. However, if the asset manager’s report is anything to go by, then there should be no cause for concern. 

CoinShares mentioned that the outflows seen from the digital asset investment funds are more likely to be related to profit-taking rather than a swing in sentiment. As such, one could also assume that this is the sentiment among the whales that made this recent Bitcoin sell-off. This is also very plausible, considering that Santiment recently reported that 89% of BTC’s total supply is in profit. 

Meanwhile, BTC is seeing an inflow of investors, as Santiment reported that the amount of non-zero Bitcoin addresses is up to 916.8 million. Many seem to be looking to get in on the flagship cryptocurrency as approval of a Spot Bitcoin ETF looms, and the BTC Halving draws near. 

While BTC seems to be cooling off, there is reason to believe that the rally isn’t over, as it could rise above $50,000 by the end of January 2024. Crypto financial services firm Matrixport predicts that this will happen on the back of the SEC approving the pending Spot Bitcoin ETF applications. 

Matrixport noted that they drew parallels to historical instances while making this price prediction. One of these instances is the CME Group’s Bitcoin futures launch in 2017. Bitcoin is said to have risen by 196% in a six-to-seven-week window dating to when the launch happened. They expect something similar to happen again. 

The firm also expects that Bitcoin will still break out before the year ends. This prediction is also based on historical patterns, as they noted that btc historically sees a price increase between Christmas and the New Year. Matrixport had previously predicted that Bitcoin would hit $45,000 between November this year and April 2024. 

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $43,600, according to data from CoinMarketCap.