Bitcoin's (CRYPTO: BTC) record-breaking run to $106,000 has been considerably boosted by a spurt in whale investor holdings, on-chain data revealed Sunday, although retail continued to control the majority supply.
What Happened: Since the bull rally commenced on Oct. 10, there has been a net increase of 1,582 more wallets holding at least 100 BTC, blockchain analysis firm Santiment reported on X.
The jump, from 16,072 to 17,644, over nine weeks, reflected a gain of nearly 10%. In the same period, Bitcoin rallied by 77%.
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) December 16, 2024
Bitcoin has climbed to $106.5K for the first time in its 16+ year history. Since the bull rally began back on October 10th, there has been a net increase of 1,582 more wallets that hold at least 100 BTC, a jump of +9.9% more wallets in the relatively short period of time! pic.twitter.com/261LfRd776
Additional data from IntoTheBlock indicated that large holders owned about 12% of Bitcoin's supply. The term "large holders" refers to those addresses that hold more than 1% of the supply, also called whales, and those who hold between 0.1% and 1% of the supply.
On the whole, all the whales together accounted for just 1.25% of the total supply. Retail investors, on the other hand, owned 88%.
| Cohort | Holding Threshold Per Investor | Share Of Total Bitcoin Supply |
| Whales | Over 1% BTC | 1.25% |
| Investors | Between 0.1%-1% BTC | 10.42% |
| Retail | Less than 0.1% BTC | 88.33% |
In contrast, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) had far bigger whale share, 43.50%, and 41.74%, respectively.
Why It Matters: Typically, high supply concentration points to low decentralization, as few wealthy investors cornering a disproportionate share of supply could result in market manipulation.
If these players hold a large enough portion, they could act maliciously to the expense of retail, potentially selling and crashing an asset's price.
However, with Bitcoin's whale dominance still at very low levels, such a possibility looked highly unlikely.
The leading digital asset has been on a record-breaking spree over the past month, pushing well beyond $100,000 to reach unprecedented levels.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $104,990.72, up 2.70% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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