Bitcoin whales gorge on another $726 million worth of BTC

• Bitcoin wallet addresses with 100 to 10,000 BTC bought another $726 million worth of coins in 9 days.
• The sharks and whales activity highlight the continued accumulation of BTC as market navigates the recent FTX- fueled crash.
• Bitcoin price rose to highs of $18,385 on Tuesday, before retreating late Wednesday following US central bank interest rate hike.

Bitcoin rallied well above $18,000 this week as the crypto market moved higher amid exuberance in the risk asset market over cooling inflation in the US.

The flagship cryptocurrency hit highs of $18,385 ahead of Wednesday’s 50% rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.

While the Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish remarks helped dampen sentiment to push BTC below $18k again, the crypto remains poised for a fresh upside given bulls’ holding of prices above the key support base established in the aftermath of the FTX implosion.

Whales continue to buy the dip

Bitcoin’s retreat from $18,385 suggests bulls might have to rely on the buffer at $17,200 – the immediate resistance level that’s likely to act as a key support base. Below that, bears could target $15,700.

Despite the rejection at intraday highs above $18,300 seen this week, its likely bitcoin will look to retest the price level given its strong fundamental outlook.

According to o-chain data shared by market platform Santiment, more bitcoin sharks and whales have scooped coins this past week. This happened amid the FTX fallout and as the firm’s data shows, addresses holding 100 to 10,000 BTC have added over $726 million BTC in just nine days.

? Breaking: #Bitcoin‘s addresses holding between 100 to 10,000 $BTC have bought $726m in $BTC the past 9 days. Meanwhile, #stablecoin assets like $USDT, $BUSD, & $DAI are also being bought quickly. This is a recipe for good things. Read all about it. ? https://t.co/H0G6oJhWFp pic.twitter.com/lOKPAfzZNO

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) December 15, 2022

About 15,900 wallet addresses in this category hold 8.5 million bitcoins worth over $149 billion (at current prices).

Notably, it adds to the accumulation seen since Bitcoin price registered a sharp decline on news of FTX’s implosion in early November. 

As well as whales and sharks, shrimps and crabs have also been grabbing some alpha. The two wallet cohorts have aggressively been buying BTC. As we highlighted here, the group has added more than 96,000 BTC worth over $1.6 billion in 30 days.