Bitcoin whale addresses grow rapidly after ETF approval

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen massive price growth this year amid institutional inflows after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cleared spot ETFs. New data from on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant shows bullish sentiment towards the market leader in recent weeks, resulting in a price increase.

According to the data, there is an increasing amount of unused Bitcoin Transaction Output (UXTO) in the market, ranging from 1000 to 10,000 BTC. These numbers have been steadily increasing from Q4 2023, following institutional inflows into Bitcoin as the market hoped for an early SEC approval.

The inflows led to a price rally that erased 2022 losses and brought a new bullish outlook to the market. In December 2023, the price of the asset reached $42,000, with several analysts pointing to a price of $50,000 after approval.

On an institutional level, millions in inflows were captured across many products, pushing Bitcoin’s Assets Under Management (AUM) to over $36 billion.

While the adoption of spot Bitcoin ETFs impacts both institutional and retail investors, whale activity has increased over the past 30 days.

“These amounts are more likely related to whales or institutional investors than to individuals, and particularly since the recent adoption of spot Bitcoin ETFs, they have risen sharply.”

CryptoQuant analysts pointed out that these inflows are not as significant as the 2021 highs, but it shows significant institutional activity.

“Generally, in bull markets, after significant inflows from institutional investors, new individual investors enter the market, marking the end of the bull run,” they added.

Days after the approval, miners sent $1 billion worth of BTC reserves to exchanges, with analysts pointing to the upcoming halving and the need to protect against larger facilities.

Then, data from CryptoQuant shows nearly $1 billion leaving Coinbase to other custodians, described as a holding move. This is because outflows from centralized exchanges show bullish sentiment.

The SEC approved the long-awaited spot Bitcoin ETF on January 10, opening a new investment window for transitioning investors. This has caused a new upsurge in the market, causing asset prices to rise and an influx of new investors. To date, Bitcoin ETFs have attracted $5.2 billion in net flows as more than $1 billion has been committed in the past seven days.

Bitcoin AUM has also reached $48 billion due to a rise in asset price and new inflows into the market. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $51,086, up 26% in the past 30 days, while the broader market reaches a market cap of $1.94 trillion.

The success of spot Bitcoin ETFs has institutional players looking at Ethereum (ETH) ETFs in the United States. Some commentators are predicting new inflows into ETH following ETF expectations.