Some non-whale Bitcoin (BTC) investors seem to have had zero problems with the cryptocurrency bear marketas well as fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) surrounding the FTX crash, on-chain data suggests.
Small retail investors have become increasingly bullish on Bitcoin and have started hoarding more BTC despite the ongoing market crisis, according to a report. published by blockchain intelligence platform Glassnode on Nov. 27.
According to data, there are at least two types of retail Bitcoin investors who have been accumulating the record amount of BTC following the FTX crash.
The first type of investors—classified as shrimp—define entities or investors holding less than 1 Bitcoin, $16,500 at the time of writing, while the second type—crabs—are a category of addresses holding up to 10 BTC, $165,000, at the time of writing.
“Shrimp” investors reportedly added 96,200 BTC ($1.6 billion) to their portfolios after the FTX crash in early November, marking an “unprecedented balance increase.” This type of investor collectively owns 1.21 million BTC, or $20 billion at the time of writing, which equates to 6.3% of the current circulating supply of 19.2 million coins, according to Glassnode.
Meanwhile, “crabs” have bought some 191,600 BTC, or $3.1 billion, in the past 30 days, which is also a “compelling all-time high,” according to analysts. According to the data, the new milestone has surpassed the previous BTC accumulation peak recorded by “crabs” in July 2022, with a peak of 126,000 BTC, or $2 billion, purchased per month.
While crabs and shrimp have been accumulating record amounts of Bitcoin, big Bitcoin investors have been selling. According to Glassnode, Bitcoin whales have released about 6,500 BTC, or $107 million, to exchanges over the past month, which is still a very small part of their total holdings of 6.3 million BTC, or $104 billion.
Shrimp and crab behavior appears to be interesting given recent industry developments, with Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange becoming the subject of a massive industry scandal involving alleged fraud and embezzlement.
On the other hand, some big Bitcoin investors have claimed to remain bullish on Bitcoin despite the ongoing crisis, with the government of El Salvador beginning to buy BTC on a daily basis, starting November 17. Twitter CEO Elon Musk also expressed confidence that Bitcoin would “make it” despite the industry’s current woes, but there could be a “long crypto winter,” he said.
After the fall of the FTX, Bitcoin immediately lost about $6,000 in value, plunging from about $21,000 to below $16,000 in mid-November.. The cryptocurrency has rallied slightly in recent weeks, reaching no higher than $17,000.
At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $16,500, meaning it is up 1.7% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko.
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