Big Bitcoin Investors Seize $7.8 Billion in BTC as Retail Traders Sell Off

A recent analysis reveals that major Bitcoin investors, often referred to as whales, are rapidly accumulating Bitcoin, potentially leaving smaller retail traders at a disadvantage.

According to data shared by Santiment, there has been a notable rise in the number of wallets holding substantial amounts of Bitcoin.

🐳 As crypto prices have let retail traders down, Bitcoin whales are growing in number. A net gain of +283 wallets holding at least 100 BTC has emerged in just 1 month. The now 16,120 such wallets on the network has broken a 17-month high. pic.twitter.com/DcAU0W01Pk

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) August 31, 2024

Specifically, wallets containing at least 100 BTC have surged by 283 over the past month, bringing the total number of such wallets to 16,120, the highest level seen in the past 17 months.

In addition to the growth among whales, entities known as Bitcoin sharks, those holding at least 10 BTC, are also significantly increasing their holdings.

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Over the last month, large investors—including both whales and sharks—have collectively added more than $7.863 billion worth of Bitcoin to their portfolios.

🐳 Bitcoin currently sits at $58.9K, which is apparently just fine for whale and shark holders. Over the past month, wallets with 10-10K BTC have collectively accumulated 133.3K more coins while smaller traders continue to impatiently drop their holdings to them. pic.twitter.com/CmOU1tdVwN

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) August 28, 2024

While these large-scale investors are ramping up their Bitcoin acquisitions, smaller traders appear to be offloading their holdings.

Santiment reports that wallets with holdings ranging from 10 to 10,000 BTC have collectively accumulated an additional 133,300 BTC over the past month, taking advantage of the sell-off from smaller traders.

Alexander Stefanov