Institutional players might have quietly completed their BTC accumulation.
Bitcoin plummeted over the past year amid two major crashes—the fall of LUNA and FTX last year. As the benchmark cryptocurrency slowly recovers, there’s been a noticeable absence of institutional investors over the last few quarters.
New data from CryptoQuant suggests that BTC accumulation paused last year.
Bitcoin accumulation likely stopped last year
New data from crypto analytics firm CryptoQuant shows that institutional investors possibly stopped accumulating Bitcoin in the second half of 2022.
It’s likely that this move was prompted by the fall of LUNA in May and the subsequent crash of FTX in November.
The analysts noted that the “token transferred” metric indicated that whale transactions all occurred at or near cycle bottom.
The analysis shows that the fifth-largest BTC transfer happened following the Luna crash in the middle of June last year.
Since then, there’s been no sign of large over-the-counter (OTC) transactions since BTC price recuperated by almost double its bottom in November 2022. Institutional investors have “already completed their BTC accumulation, eliminating the need for additional trades,” according to the analyst.
Mid-2022 seems to have been the last time institutional investors accumulated. The Bitcoin Velocity patterns show the same.
The analysts concluded that there might be a renewed bullish cycle incoming: “in conclusion, $15,700, the low created after institutions mass-bought, seems to be the lowest point in this cycle, and if ‘Token Transferred’ and ‘Velocity speed’ increase along with price increases in the future, this is likely a precursor to an upward rally.”
Read more: Bitcoin remains in the same range as CPI data shows slowing rates
Microstrategy’ strategy yields reward
Despite the slow down of institutional investors, Microstrategy remains in the game.
The Micheal Saylor-led company has continued to accumulate Bitcoin despite the lull in the market.
As of August 1, 2023, the company held 152,000 Bitcoin, or about $4.5B.
Microstrategy made their first Bitcoin purchase three years ago by acquiring 21,454 Bitcoin for $250M at an average of $11,653 per BTC. The company has since made a return of 206% on their overall investment.
Bitcoin was trading at $29,361, gaining 0.26% in the last 24 hours.
Disclaimer: CryptoPlug does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Do conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
