While Bitcoin continues to trade within the $60,000 to $70,000 range, a new wave of optimism is emerging from on-chain analysis. Willy Woo, an on-chain analyst, took to X on May 7 to point out an exciting development: high-net-worth BTC holders have been rapidly accumulating the coin. 

High Net-worth Whales Accumulating

In a chart, the analyst noted that whales, entities holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC, have been gobbling up BTC over the past two months. Their involvement, Woo says, has been the “strongest buying spree” by such whales in recent history. 

However, while there is excitement, some argue that this cohort’s sharp spike in BTC accrual could be due to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers. Since the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first spot ETFs in January, these issuers, including Fidelity, Bitwise, and ProShares, now control over 850,000 BTC.

Even so, Woo counters this argument, emphasizing that this uptick is not due to the involvement of these Wall Street players. The analyst explained that, based on available data, these entities are “distinct” and have been picked out through forensic clustering techniques. 

Moreover, Woo observes that publicly available spot ETF flow data reveals a discrepancy. For instance, while these whales have been purchasing BTC over the two months, amassing over 220,000 BTC according to network activity, spot ETF flows have been declining, only scooping up roughly 165,000 BTC during this period.

This deviation suggests that investors, including institutions, gaining BTC exposure via spot ETFs cannot account for the entire whale activity. 

Bitcoin Buying Pressure Sustained, Will Bulls Break $73,800?

Additionally, Woo clarifies that the accumulation over the past two months wasn’t a single, massive purchase. Instead, the analyst explains, a clear pattern of sustained buying is observed over 30 days within two months. This makes it evident that their approach was deliberate, and they were eager to strategically accumulate when prices were depressed. 

That whales are involved and actively buying, based on on-chain activity, is bullish. The coin has moved horizontally over the past two months since BTC prices peaked at $73,800.

Early this month, Bitcoin prices plunged to as low as $56,500 before recovering steadily over the weekend. For the uptrend to remain, there must be a conclusive close above $70,000 and, ideally, $73,800. Analysts predict an eventual spike to $100,000.

Feature image from Canva, chart from TradingView