- Addresses with less than 1 BTC have risen exponentially since the rally started last week.
- The accumulation activity of old addresses was faster than the creation of new addresses on the network.
Bitcoin [BTC] briefly pushed over $31,000 before pulling back to $30,904 at the moment of writing, as interest from TradFi giants continues to inject momentum and volatility into the king of digital assets. The market rally, which followed a prolonged stagnation in the price of BTC, led many investors to lock in profits.
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However, many of BTC’s retail investors have resisted this trend. This is reported by an analyst from the blockchain research firm CryptoQuantaddresses with less than 1 BTC, also known as “Shrimps”, have risen exponentially since the rally began last week.
Shrimp, crabs lead the way
According to the data, the number of addresses in the aforementioned cohort has nearly tripled since June 20. The total number at the time of writing was over 331,000, the highest ever.
Source: CryptoQuant
In addition, “Crabs,” the investor cohort holding between 1 and 10 BTC, saw a tripling of addresses.
Source: CryptoQuant
However, the increase was driven decisively by old addresses, ie addresses that were active but did not participate in transactions.
A observation made earlier by the same analyst showed a remarkable increase in the number of old addresses, and at a rate faster than the creation of new addresses on the network. This effectively meant that a greater number of long-term holders were accumulating ahead of further BTC price growth.
Combining the above two observations, it became clear that retail investors were actually leading the accumulation trend among long-term holders of the coin.
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Transaction activity remains low
Other than a few instances of profit-taking, transaction activity has remained lukewarm on the Bitcoin network. According to Glassnode, the total number of coins transferred on the chain dropped after the rally’s initial frenzy.
Similarly, the supply of centralized exchanges (CEX) continued to increase. This provided additional support for the narrative that, despite being tempted to lock in short-term gains, most seasoned Bitcoin investors showed a stronger desire to accumulate and HODL.
Source: Glassnode