Bitcoin (BTC) whale buying and selling in 2023 is mostly from speculative investors, new data reveals.
In the latest edition of its weekly newsletter, “The Week On-Chain,” analytics firm Glassnode shows that contrary to popular belief, opportunistic entities are the most active whales.
The birth of the Bitcoin “short-term holder” whale
Since BTC price action returned to $30,000, a shift has taken place among Bitcoin traders.
As Glassnode shows, so-called short-term holders (STHs) — investors holding coins for a maximum of 155 days — have become significantly more common.
As it turns out, the largest-volume investor cohort, the whales, is also composed of large numbers of STHs.
“Short-Term Holder Dominance across Exchange Inflows has exploded to 82%, which is now drastically above the long-term range over the last five years (typically 55% to 65%),” Glassnode states.
“From this, we can establish a case that much of the recent trading activity is driven by Whales active within the 2023 market (and thus classified as STHs).”
Bitcoin short-term holders dominance of exchange inflows (screenshot). Source: Glassnode
Interest in trading short-timeframe moves on BTC/USD was already evident before May. Since the FTX meltdown in late 2022, speculators have been increasingly eager to tap volatility both up and down.
The results have been mixed: Realized profits and losses have routinely spiked in line with volatile price moves.
“If we look at the degree of Profit/Loss realized by Short-Term Holder volume flowing into exchanges, it becomes evident that these newer investors are trading local market conditions,” Glassnode continues.
“Each rally and correction since the FTX fallout has seen a 10k+ BTC uptick in STH profit or loss, respectively.”
Bitcoin short-term holder profit-loss to exchanges (screenshot). Source: Glassnode
Whales show “elevated inflow bias” to exchanges
Closer to the present, whales have ramped up exchange activity, at one point in July accounting for 41% of total inflows.
“Analysis of the Whale Netflow to Exchanges can be used as a proxy for their influence on the supply and demand balance,” The Week On-Chain comments on the topic.
“Whale-to-exchange netflows have tended to oscillate between ±5k BTC/day over the last five years. However, throughout June and July this year, whale inflows have sustained an elevated inflow bias of between 4.0k to 6.5k BTC/day.”
Bitcoin whales and exchanges net flow volumes (screenshot). Source: Glassnode
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
