Whale Sightings Become Scarce, Removing Downward Pressure on Bitcoin: Analyst
Big bitcoin balance holders, or "whales," are moving less crypto onto exchanges, signaling some reduction of sell-side pressure, according to CryptoQuant.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:48 a.m. Published Dec 28, 2020, 4:16 p.m.
CoinDesk 20 Bitcoin Price Index
A lack of whales with BTC$105,626.76 aplenty to sell may be clearing the way for the price of the leading cryptocurrency to rise further, according to CryptoQuant Chief Executive Ki Young Ju.
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Fewer "whales" – bitcoin holders possessing large balances – are depositing BTC$105,626.76 onto exchanges the past few days, according to CryptoQuant, a crypto market data aggregator.
CryptoQuant's "Exchange Whale Ratio," which is calculated by dividing top 10 bitcoin inflow transactions in an hour by total BTC exchange inflows, has dropped below 85%.
From Dec. 8-22, the ratio stayed above 85% as whales were likely profit-taking during the bull run, which reached a price zenith of $28,352 Sunday according to CoinDesk 20 data.
Some market exhaustion is expected, according to Young Ju, but he expects institutions to pick up some of the slack.
"I think this bull run will continue as institutional investors keep buying and Exchange Whale Ratio keeps below 85%," Young Ju noted on Twitter.
When adjusted for asset market capitalization SOL's relative futures volume looks better, K33 Research noted.
What to know:
Solana's SOL futures began trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Monday, with a notional daily volume of $12.3 million and $7.8 million in open interest, significantly lower than the debuts of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) futures.
Despite the seemingly lackluster debut, when adjusted to market value, SOL's first-day figures are more in line with BTC's and ETH's, according to K33 Research.
Despite the bearish market conditions, the launch of CME SOL futures offers new ways for institutions to manage their exposure to the token, said Joshua Lim of FalconX.