Journalist
Posted:
- Acquiring a Bitcoin would become more difficult in the future due to halvings and spot ETFs.
- At the time of writing, one BTC was trading at $37,447.
Owning Bitcoin [BTC] has become a prestige issue for crypto market participants. Given the rate at which the value of the king’s coin has grown over the past decade, owning at least one unit of the prized asset represents a tribute.
Cheers to the Wholecoiners
Colloquially called Wholecoiners, this user cohort has seen steady growth over the years. According to a recent X-post from on-chain analytics company IntoTheBlock, there were more than 1 million Wholecoiners in the market.
Source: IntoTheBlock
At the time of writing, one BTC was trading for $37,447 CoinMarketCap. The high price creates significant barriers to entry for many players, who then compete by purchasing small units of the digital asset.
Furthermore, the supply cap of 21 million introduces further restrictions on owning one entire Bitcoin. Note that more than 1 million coins are believed to be owned by creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
Against this backdrop, the growing number of Wholecoiners reflected confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term prospects.
The chart above shows that the number fell during the 2021 bull run as investors sold and booked their gains. However, when the market entered a bearish phase, accumulation and HODLing became popular.
In the future, acquiring a Bitcoin would become more difficult halves and coins held in spot exchange-traded funds (ETF). The scarcity could fuel demand and consequently cause sharp price increases.
Whales also increase their appetite
Meanwhile, regardless of the Wholecoiners discussion, whale investors continued to amass more Bitcoins.
According to AMBCrypto’s examination of Glassnode’s data, addresses holding at least 1,000 coins reached levels last seen in May 2022. Apart from brief periods of profit-taking, the number of Bitcoin whales has steadily increased in 2023.
Source: Glassnode
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Hard to let go
As previously discussed, Bitcoin’s scarcity led users to turn to HODL coins instead of trading them on the market. Long-term holder supply (LTH), indicative of BTC’s illiquidity, increased steadily in 2023.
In contrast, short-term holding supply (STH), or tradable supply, fell.
Source: Glassnode
There was a greater chance that the number of whole coins would increase further in the run-up to the halving. Given the high expectations of a bull run, many investors may want to get their hands on the world’s largest digital asset before it runs out of control.