The number of addresses with more than 1000 bitcoin is now at an all-time high, according to researchers at Luno and Arcane Research who monitor the market on a weekly basis.
According to their weekly report, about 50 addresses were added to this list last week, as the price of bitcoin pushed above $13,000. This is the highest ever and could have several explanations, one being that more large holders have entered the bitcoin market. For example, Paypal the largest recently announced that it was launching its own cryptocurrency service.
It could also be linked to restructuring from so-called whales, investors who own a lot of bitcoin.
“The last alternative is perhaps the most likely one, as we’ve also seen a decrease in addresses holding more than 10,000 bitcoin lately,” said the researchers. “Could it perhaps be one or several large whales that are restructuring their holding and spreading it out to several addresses?”
Read also: Bitcoin outshines global stock market, gold in first half of 2020
Bitcoin price was at $13,498 as of press time on Saturday continuing about five days run above $13,000, a surge that investors expect to eventually culminate into an all-time high before the end of the year. Bitcoin is up 21 percent so far in October and is about to end one of the strongest months in 2020.
Bitcoin has also seen a strong 2020 so far and has heavily outperformed both gold and the S&P 500. In traditional markets, European stocks fluctuated and US futures pointed to a lower open. The dollar was steady in foreign exchange markets and the 10-year US. Treasury yields rose 0.01 percentage point to 0.83 percent.
The positive price movement has affected the volume of bitcoin investors have moved about over the week. According to the report, the volume traded on Wednesday was highest since May with over $3.5 billion changing hands. The 7-day average daily real bitcoin volume is now back to the levels seen in August.
“The volume over the past few days has not been very impressive and it will be interesting to see if this is just another short-term spike or a real trend shift,” the researchers said.
