Share of Bitcoin Whale Exchange Inflows Hits 1-Year High - Over 40%

Bitcoin whales represent the largest number of trade entries by volume since June 2022, as short-term holders become increasingly active.

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Bitcoin (BTC) whale buying and selling in 2023 comes 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 (STH) — investors holding coins for up to 155 days — have become much more common.

It turns out that the largest cohort of investors, the whales, is also made up of a large number of STHs.

"The dominance of short-term holders on exchange entries has exploded to 82%, which is now significantly above the long-term range over the past five years (typically 55%-65%)," says Glassnode.

“From this we can establish that much of the recent trading activity is driven by whales active in the 2023 market (and therefore classified as STH). »

Dominance of short-term bitcoin holders on exchange entries (screenshot). Source: Glassnode

Interest in trading short-term moves in BTC/USD was already evident before May. Since the collapse of the FTX in late 2022, speculators have become increasingly keen to exploit both upside and downside volatility.

Results were mixed: realized profits and losses steadily increased in line with price volatility.

“If we look at the degree of profit/loss made by the volume of short-term holders flocking to exchanges, it becomes clear that these new investors are trading local market conditions,” continues Glassnode.

"Every rally and...