With the number of idle coins almost reaching a new all-time high, Bitcoin is once again mostly not moving.
The amount of Bitcoins, known as “old supply,” that have not been traded in at least six months currently stands at 14,99 million, or around $370 billion at today’s values, according to blockchain analysis company Glassnode.
According to Glassnode, the all-time high was 15.029 million in December. So why is this taking place?
Decrypt was informed by Arkham Intelligence, a different blockchain company, that this is due to Bitcoin investors’ renewed emphasis on long-term gains. CEO Miguel Morel noted that the Bitcoin community has “obviously grown more long-term oriented, focusing mostly on holding.”
“Communities are developing tools and services on other chains, like Ethereum, where currencies move much more, usually in search of profits.”
There is “a turning of the cycle and a noticeable shift in investor behaviour patterns,” Glassnode noted in the research.
In a report published yesterday, the Bank for International Settlements found that whales and pro-traders—i.e., those who hold a lot of cryptocurrency for an extended period of time or are shrewd enough to sell before significant declines—are the investors who profit from purchasing cryptocurrencies.
According to the BIS analysis, the majority of Bitcoin buyers joined the market when the price was high during bull runs, and these investors largely sold for losses.
During a 155-day holding period, dormant coins actually become “increasingly unlikely to be used,” according to earlier statements by Glassnode. According to the analytics company’s study released today, such behaviour has historically been seen during bad markets, “possibly expressing a belief that the market is oversold”—indicating that a recovery may be imminent.
An old Bitcoin address that has not made a transaction in over 10 years empty wallet earlier this month, possibly to cash out a profit of $9.6 million in Bitcoin at a 120,000,000% increase.
