- Institutional demand is back and recently returned to post-collapse levels of Terra LUNA and FTX.
- HODLing intensifies, but still highlights room for improvement, as well as short-term profit taking.
Long-term expectations have crept back into Bitcoin [BTC] investor sentiment in recent weeks. This could be part of the reason for the recent bullish activity and surprisingly the whales have not been left behind.
How much are 1,10,100 BTCs worth today?
As Bitcoin’s long-term prospects appear more optimistic, demand for the cryptocurrency has increased. New data suggested traders could see more upside potential in the coming weeks as institutional demand returns.
An IntoTheBlock analysis shows that institutional demand for BTC has been growing and recently reached a new high in 2023. This is evident from the increase in transactions worth more than $100,000.
Institutional interest in Bitcoin is clearly increasing. Transactions over $100,000 have reached new highs in 2023. Recent spot ETF filings appear to be a driving force, as was the case following BlackRock’s ETF filing in June. pic.twitter.com/8dAgQ8Mfpo
— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) October 27, 2023
Evaluating the State of Bitcoin HODLing
Analysts believe that this newfound institutional demand was likely the result of the excitement surrounding Bitcoin ETFs. The return of institutional demand coincides with recent observations in the chain.
Take, for example, the amount held by the largest BTC addresses. Recipients who own at least 100,000 BTC and those who own more than 1 million BTC have been aggressively accumulating Bitcoin over the past two weeks.
Source: Glassnode
In fact, the recent whale accumulation can be considered notable, as the same whale address balances were back above May 2022 levels. This was important because May and June of the same year (2022) saw robust outflows due to the collapse of Terra LUNA and FTX and the subsequent FUD.
The intensity of the peak in whale and institutional demand observed over the past two weeks was last observed in January 2023. Moreover, looking at BTC’s Open Interest (OI) from the derivatives segment, it was clear that the negative financing rates have decreased in the past two weeks. last few weeks.
Source: Hyblock Capital
Positive OI has predominated especially in recent weeks due to rising bullish sentiment. However, the same data showed that BTC’s OI still had some room before reaching the highest level of the past twelve months.
Read more about Bitcoin price prediction for 2024
The growing demand for BTC and the shift in favor of long-term prospects resulted in more HODLing. The BTC HODLed or lost coins metric recently peaked at its highest level since early 2023.
Source: Glassnode
We also observed positive growth in Bitcoin miner balances on a YTD basis, which was in line with the recovery in confidence. However, the outflows from miners’ balance sheets in recent days could indicate short-term profit-taking.
Nevertheless, most of the figures above highlight the fact that demand for Bitcoin has been growing gradually. This means that the future is preparing for a healthier long-term bullish outlook.