The number of Bitcoin whale wallets has seen a significant increase as the price of Bitcoin has experienced a downturn this week, reaching lows of $89,550 on Tuesday.
Data from the crypto analytics platform Glassnode indicates that whales have been actively accumulating Bitcoin since late October. A notable surge in Bitcoin whale wallets holding over 1,000 BTC began on Friday.
The count of whale wallets had fallen to a yearly low of 1,354 on October 27, when Bitcoin was trading around $114,000. However, as of Monday, this number has risen by 2.2% to 1,384, reaching levels not observed in the past four months.
Concurrently, Glassnode data suggests that smaller holders, with 1 BTC or less, have been feeling the impact of the recent price slump.
The total number of these smaller wallets has decreased from 980,577 on October 27 to a yearly low of 977,420 on November 17.
This trend aligns with a common pattern observed in cryptocurrency markets, where smaller investors tend to panic-sell during market downturns, while whales take advantage of the situation to accumulate more assets.
This observation also presents a potential contradiction to the recent narrative of "OG dumping," which posits that older, established investors have been driving down Bitcoin's price by taking profits.
Bitcoin Price Falls Below $90,000
Bitcoin's price dropped below a significant psychological threshold on Monday, and it is currently trading at approximately $89,900. This decline has caused the Crypto Fear & Greed Index to fall into the "extreme fear" zone, registering a score of 11 out of 100.
Despite the current market pressure, executives from firms such as Bitwise and BitMine have predicted that Bitcoin's selling pressure will subside and that the market may hit a bottom this week.
Speaking with CNBC on Monday, Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, described the current price levels as a "generational opportunity."
Hougan stated, "I think we’re nearing a bottom. I look at this as a great buying opportunity for long-term investors. Bitcoin was the first thing to turn over before this broader market pullback. It was sort of the canary in the coal mine signaling that there was some risk in all sorts of risk-on assets."
Meanwhile, while memes about "working at McDonald's" are resurfacing on X, executives like Gemini crypto exchange co-founder Cameron Winklevoss have adopted a more optimistic outlook. Winklevoss posted that this is "the last time you’ll ever be able to buy Bitcoin below $90k!"
Another cryptocurrency analyst on X, known as TheCryptoDog, has also suggested that Bitcoin is due for a bounce soon based on current metrics.
The analyst wrote, "If things play out clear and simple, $BTC tags ~87.7k - Some high TF MA support & horizontal support from previous resistance (the break of which triggered a rally in May)."