Prepping For $100,000: Bitcoin Shark And Whales Spend Over $18 Billion To Buy BTC

Almost every Bitcoin investor is anticipating a continued price surge as the crypto continues to trade around the $70,000 price mark. On-chain data has shown a large part of this surge can be attributed to the accumulation by large whales. 

Bitcoin is undoubtedly home to a lot of these whale addresses holding hundreds of millions of dollars and with transactions that can move the market. However, on-chain data has further revealed that the accumulation trend has also flowed into the next cohort of traders. These traders, also known as “Sharks,” are addresses that hold between 100 BTC and 1,000 BTC. According to Glassnode data, shark wallet addresses have accumulated 268,441 BTC in the past 30 days, which is the biggest net position change since 2012. 

According to a Glassnode chart shared on social media by crypto analyst James Van Straten, Bitcoin accumulation by shark investors shot up in 2024 to reverse a multi-year consolidation since 2020. As a result, these addresses increased their holdings by 268,441 in 30 days, roughly converting to $18 billion. 

While these sharks do not have as much individual power over price movement as very large whales, their collective behavior is still worth monitoring as they also relate to the sentiment among investors. Consequently, this large accumulation trend could lead to more buying which would signal a continued price surge for Bitcoin.

The surge in accumulation is not really surprising, as the launch of Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US has ushered in a bigger wave of accumulation sentiment from all cohorts of Bitcoin investors. As another analyst pointed out on social media, this shark accumulation could’ve been due to ETFs purchasing massive amounts of Bitcoins from Coinbase OTC desks.

Bitcoin whales (addresses holding more than 1,000 BTC) have also upped their activity in the past few days, signaling strategic positioning in the market. Various transaction alerts from Whale Alerts have shown strategic movement from whale addresses.

Notably, the crypto whale transaction tracker has revealed $1.3 billion worth of BTC exchanged between whale addresses in the past 24 hours. Among these large BTC movements was a notable transfer of 3,599 BTC worth $252 million between two unknown wallets. Another notable transaction was the transfer of 3,118 BTC from an unknown wallet to Coinbase Institutional.

Data from IntoTheBlock has also reiterated this accumulation trend with its net transfer trend from exchanges. Data from ITB’s platform shows a $16.18 billion outflow from exchanges as against a $15.76 billion inflow in the past seven days. Bitcoin is now trading at $67,931 and has failed to stabilize above the $70,000 mark again.

However, the accumulation by whales and sharks, increasing mainstream interest from institutional investors through Spot Bitcoin ETFs, and the approaching halving all point to the possibility of substantial price appreciation to $100,000.