Bitcoin (BTC) experienced continued volatility on Wednesday, hovering around $60,000 for much of the day. At press time, the cryptocurrency was trading at $59,404, reflecting a 2.46% decline over the past 24 hours, which brought its market capitalization to $1.2 trillion.
However, despite the recent volatility, investor sentiment remains largely bullish. A survey of the Bitcoin community shows that 65% of respondents are optimistic about the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects, indicating strong confidence in its future potential.
Notably, amid this optimism, Cryptoquant CEO Ki Young Ju highlighted a significant generational shift unfolding among Bitcoin’s whale investors on Tuesday.
“New whales have invested $108 billion, while older whales have invested $113 billion since Bitcoin’s inception.” He tweeted. “The ratio is now 48:51, and the realized cap of new whales is expected to surpass that of older whales soon.”
This shift signals a major change in the power dynamics, with newer holders quickly closing the gap on the original Bitcoin holders.
The shift in investor behavior is also visible when examining the different groups of Bitcoin holders. In the latest report, Glassnode analysts revealed that Long-Term Holders (LTHs) who bought Bitcoin near its all-time high of $73,000 hold significant portions of BTC at an unrealized loss. These LTHs now account for 47% of all coins held in loss. However, the magnitude of these losses remains relatively small, suggesting that these long-term holders are not under immediate financial pressure.
Conversely, Short-Term Holders (STHs) or newer investors benefit from rising profitability. More than 62% of STH supply is profitable, with many coins purchased between $53,000 and $66,000. This growing strength among newer investors is evident in their increasing market influence, as these short-term holders contribute to stabilizing prices and reducing the pressure on the overall market.
That said, while newer whales are steadily closing the gap with their long-established counterparts, older whales continue to expand their holdings. Blitzztrading, a senior analyst at Cryptoquant, pointed out that large wallets holding more than 10,000 BTC have consistently maintained a strong support level, even during bear markets.
This indicates that, despite market fluctuations, these significant investors are accumulating more BTC, averaging 39,874 BTC per wallet since March. Blitzztrading further emphasized that this accumulation level could be a critical support threshold if Bitcoin faces further downturns.
