Number of Bitcoin 'Whale' Addresses at Highest Since Autumn 2016
The number of investors with over 1,000 bitcoin has peaked to four-year highs amid the recent price rally.
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:23 a.m. UTC
![Data indicates bitcoin "whales" have been making profits throughout 2020.](https://www.coindesk.com/resizer/lU23lh9nxkr32UlMNLbjmm-C_-Q=/567x372/filters:quality(80):format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/M63R7NLRWZARTEV4OR6QIV5GIY.jpg)
The number of bitcoin "whales" – large investors with an ability to influence market trends – has jumped to four-year highs alongside the recent price rally.
- As of Sunday, the population of whale entities – clusters of addresses held by a single network participant holding at least 1,000 BTC – was 1,939, the highest since September 2016, according to data source Glassnode.
- The whale entities metric increased by 2.2% last week, possibly adding to bullish pressures around bitcoin's price.
- The top cryptocurrency by market value rose by over 13% last week to register its best single-week performance since April.
- The uptrend gathered steam on Wednesday after PayPal announced support for bitcoin and prices reached 13-month highs above $13,300 on Thursday.
![Bitcoin whale entities and price](https://www.coindesk.com/resizer/wdn5Cl0m5ft-STwNBhEhn0Dpcl4=/560x315/filters:quality(80):format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/RKVOSO5Z2BHI3HDDZ4WRASEWEU.png)
- The number of whale entities has increased by more than 13% this year alongside a 20% rise in the U.S. dollar supply.
- The data shows high net-worth individuals increasingly consider bitcoin a hedge against inflation, according to Willy Woo, an on-chain analyst and the author of The Bitcoin Forecast newsletter.
- Several top public companies have recently disclosed bitcoin investments, providing a strong vote of confidence in the cryptocurrency's future.
- Hedge fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones believes bitcoin's rally has just begun.
- As per the technical charts, the cryptocurrency is looking north, having cleared resistance with a weekly close (Sunday, UTC) above $12,500.
![Bitcoin weekly chart](https://www.coindesk.com/resizer/ImiDlyEwLBtYMwdZJmwHbC1_uhc=/560x279/filters:quality(80):format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/4FDRJPQQCNDJXIKJYLSCHO4YLI.png)
- The focus now is on the June 2019 high of $13,800.
- Bitcoin is trading near $13,160 at press time, up 0.75% on the day.
- Disclosure: The author holds small positions in bitcoin and litecoin.