Bitcoin Whales’ Holdings Have Surged 800% This Year

The number of Bitcoin whales, or entities that hold more than 1,000 BTC ($68 million), is nearing its all-time high, according to Glassnode. The number of whales topped 1,680 today, a figure not seen since January 2021.

New whales now hold more than 1.97 million Bitcoin. Their balances surged 813% year-to-date as they gobbled up 9.3% of the total supply, and their holdings are currently valued at a whopping $132 billion.

Holders of this size have an all-time high record of 1,907, though this level remains untouched since late June 2016. Growth in this cohort of the Bitcoin economy seems driven by the advent of new whales, said André Dragosch, European head of research at Bitwise.

“This looks so unreal,” said Dragosch, pointing to a chart from CryptoQuant showing that realized capitalization for large entities went vertical among new addresses. “Whales are literally buying bitcoin hand over fist.”

Renowned crypto analyst Miles Deutscher agrees. He wrote on X that Bitcoin whales have never been this active in the history of the network.

Dragosch told The Defiant there could be two reasons for the growth spurt: addresses holding BTC on behalf of ETFs and corporate treasuries adopting Bitcoin – “these entities also hold large amounts of bitcoin and are frequent buyers,” he said.

Even seasoned analysts think the figures for Bitcoin whales are an anomaly. “At first, I thought this might be a data error, as the numbers seemed unrealistically high,” wrote CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju.

“To put it into perspective, it’s like institutional investors acquiring an additional 8.2% stake in a company named Bitcoin within a year,” he added. “The cap table for Bitcoin has become more diversified with the entry of institutional players.”

According to Young Ju, nobody calls Bitcoin gambling anymore, and he “feels the atmosphere is becoming more mature.”

Others point to growing optimism among institutional buyers concerning the upcoming U.S. presidential election and the potential for a Trump victory.

James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, wrote that his firm believes the renewed optimism “stems from growing expectations of a Republican victory in the upcoming elections, as they are generally viewed as more supportive of digital assets.”

Prediction markets are explicitly favoring Donald J. Trump, with some placing his odds above 20% over his Democrat rival Kamala Harris. More traditional polls like 538 place him only 3% ahead.