Bitcoin (BTC) has crossed a significant threshold this month — and while it does not involve price, it does involve “millions.”
Data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode confirms that as of May 18, there are over one million addresses which hold at least 1 BTC.
Back: Adoption trend lays path to "hyperbitcoinization"
It was a long time coming and received much attention on social media, and the time is finally here — there are one million entities which own a whole bitcoin.
These “wholecoiners” have been steadily accruing since mid-2021, Glassnode shows, and the upward trend in 1 BTC wallets has seen almost no reversal since.
In 2022, however, the trend accelerated, having started the year with 814,000 wholesalers and finishing it with 978,000 — an increase of 20%.
Reacting, Adam Back, CEO and co-founder of Bitcoin firm Blockstream, made the case for “hyperbitcoinization” soon to come.
Should the existing trend continue, he argued, BTC price growth would soon make buying it not only a luxury, but something unattainable altogether.
This would happen, he tweeted, “because 10mil people trying to buy 1 BTC over a few years would push the price out of reach.”
“And many current hodlers are not selling,” he continued.
“Eg very few of the recent whole coiners would re-sell, probably moving up to their next target for extra bitcoin, most are trying to buy more!”
As Cointelegraph reported, existing Bitcoin investors who are long-term market participants have broadly resisted the urge to sell through the recent bear market and subsequent price recovery.
At the same time, an uptick in short-term holders, or speculators, in 2023 has got some excited about the birth of a new Bitcoin bull market.
Whale numbers halt 2022 decline
Glassnode data meanwhile shows that at the other end of the spectrum, whale wallets have become stagnant.
Related: Sink or swim at $27K? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
Entities with between 1,000 BTC and 9,999 BTC are now showing signs of recovery after falling from mid-2022 onward.
10,000+ BTC entities, on the other hand, remain in a range entered following the FTX collapse last November. There are currently 117 such entities.
Observers such as monitoring resource Material Indicators often note that the largest classes of whales still exert the most influence over BTC price action thanks to their trading activities.
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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.
