As lead cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to consolidate in a range, on-chain data offers a picture of what is likely going on with the group of large holders, or whales.
On-chain analytics firm Santiment paints a plausible picture of whales playing the waiting game in anticipation of higher prices in the days ahead.
🐳 #Bitcoin continues to trade between $26K-$27K, and #Ethereum at $1.6K to 1.65K. #Crypto’s top market caps’ $100K+ transaction levels are at their lowest levels of 2023 right now. This is a sign of whales likely waiting, and not necessarily disinterest. https://t.co/FKfhB5X3Yh pic.twitter.com/m9990wqlpM
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) September 18, 2023
According to Santiment, large transactions, which refer to those greater than $100,000, are at their lowest levels so far in 2023. It was mentioned that this might be a sign of whales waiting for the best moment and not necessarily of disinterest, as some may think.
“Bitcoin continues to trade between $26K and $27K, and Ethereum is at $1.6K to 1.65K. Crypto’s top market caps’ $100K+ transaction levels are at their lowest levels of 2023 right now. This is a sign of whales likely waiting, and not necessarily disinterest,” Santiment tweeted.
An albeit bullish scenario is playing out among long-term holders, whose numbers keep reaching new highs. Long-term Bitcoin hodlers, or those whose average purchase date is at least more than 155 days ago, now control 70% of the total supply of Bitcoin, or 14,787,265 BTC.
As the number of this category of Bitcoin holders continues to grow, top Bitcoin analyst Charles Edwards points out a trend of accumulation, saying, “They are accumulating for the next bull run. ” Edwards also stated that over 57% of the Bitcoins on the network have not moved their capital in over two years.
At the time of writing, BTC was up 1.16% in the last 24 hours to $26,865. Recent analysis provided by crypto analyst Ali indicates that a boost in BTC buying pressure might target $28,000 or $31,000, whereas an invalidation of this bullish scenario might occur if BTC dips below $24,500.
Whale places $150 million bullish bet on ETH
As reported by Wu Blockchain, the cumulative number of block calls traded for Ethereum has reached 92,600 ETH in the last 24 hours.
In just the past hour, over 40,000 ETH Block calls were traded, almost all buying 29DEC23-2200-C, and with the nearly 50,000 buying 27OCT23-2000-C last night, the cumulative number of block calls traded has reached 92,600 ETH. The whale actively bought $150 million worth of…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 18, 2023
Also, a whale is trading a large number of call options. The said whale actively bought $150 million worth of notional ETH calls, and all of them were naked buys with clear long-term bullish expectations.
At the time of writing, ETH was trading in the green and was marginally up in the last 24 hours to $1,636.
