- Bitcoin whales with over 1000 coins have increased accumulation.
- Negative sentiment continues to haunt the key asset.
The number of Bitcoins [BTC] addresses holding more than 1,000 BTC have surged to a new all-time high despite the coin’s post-ETF approval performance, according to data from IntoTheBlock.
Despite the negative price movement, Bitcoin has reached a new annual high at addresses holding more than 1,000 BTC! pic.twitter.com/4qQhbXSD9S
— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) January 26, 2024
At the time of writing, the leading crypto asset exchanged hands at $41,760, data from CoinMarketCap showed. This marked a 15% decline from the high of $48,625 recorded a day after ETFs became tradable.
With sentiment significantly bearish since then, many market participants have reduced their exposure to the asset by distributing some of their BTC holdings.
Smaller whales have a different plan
While BTC whales holding more than 1,000 coins have intensified accumulation in the face of falling price action, investors holding between 1 and 1,000 coins have reduced their holdings in recent days.
According to data from Santimentthis group of BTC investors began distributing coins on January 5, likely following a report published two days earlier by crypto investment service provider Matrixport.
In the report, the company stated that it expected the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reject all applications for a spot BTC ETF.
This caused a market frenzy, leading to a double-digit drop in the value of BTC and the liquidation of $500 million worth of positions on derivatives exchanges within 24 hours.
After the ETFs were approved, sentiment among these BTC holders did not improve. As of January 26, 878,000 addresses had between 1 and 1,000 coins, down 0.4% from the 882,000 addresses that had the same number of coins when the year started.
Source: Santiment
Sentiment is getting worse
At the time of writing, BTC’s weighted sentiment was -0.49. It has been negative since January 15, and this is clearly visible in the downward trend in the coin’s price since then.
Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price forecast 2024-25
Confirming the poor sentiment in the BTC market, open futures interest has also plummeted. According to data from Mint glassit has fallen by 15% since the ETFs went live.
Source: Coinglass
For context, open interest on BTC futures stood at $17 billion at the time of writing. When ETFs were approved on January 10, it exceeded $20 billion.