Bitcoin (BTC) whales are “clearly accumulating” as BTC price continues to trade below all-time highs, says onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant.
In an X post on July 24, CEO Ki Young Ju called the flow of coins to large-volume investors “unprecedented.”
Bitcoin whales add 358,000 BTC in July
Bitcoin’s “permanent holders” are buying in big at current BTC price levels.
Analyzing the 30-day rolling balance change for permanent holder addresses, Ki revealed a wealth transfer arguably unlike anything seen in crypto market history.
“Bitcoin is in an accumulation phase,” he summarized.
“Over the past month, 358K BTC has moved to permanent holder addresses.”
Those purchases, equal to around $23 billion at the time of writing on July 24, beat all others in BTC terms, including the period during which BTC/USD hit its current all-time highs of $73,800 in March.
As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin’s long-term holders, defined as entities hodling a given amount for 155 days or more, have broadly refused to sell this year, regardless of short-term price trends.
Continuing, Ki referenced the ongoing success of the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as vehicles for institutional BTC exposure.
“In July, global spot ETF inflows were 53K BTC,” he noted.
The largest such ETF in the United States topped $500 million in inflows in a single day this week. At the same time, however, analysis warned that such large tallies have tended to precede periods of corrective BTC price behavior.
This week’s launch of spot Ether ETFs further clouded the narrative, with crypto markets seeing a marked comedown on their second day of trading.
Largest players "furiously accumulating"
When it comes to long-term accumulation trends, however, Ki is optimistic.
“Though not all remaining BTC is in custody wallets, whales are clearly accumulating,” he concluded.
“And it's an unprecedented level.”
Others joined him, including popular trader and social media commentator Bitcoin Munger, who uploaded data to X showing the largest whale cohort “furiously accumulating.”
Only the smallest class of BTC hodler, with 1 BTC or less, is doing the opposite, it showed.