CEO of Bitwise, Hunter Horsley, notes that the Bitcoin rally is now largely driven by institutions and not retail investors, even though Bitcoin recently reached $94,000. A significant rise in wallets holding over 1,000 BTC indicates accumulation by larger players. The market faces pressure with resistance at $96,000, where whether it breaks or not could define the next phase of trading.
Bitcoin continues to rally, yet the interest appears to be more institutional than retail, according to Hunter Horsley, the CEO of Bitwise. He pointed out that Bitcoin’s impressive surge past $94,000 coincides with low Google search interest levels, indicating a shift in the driving forces behind Bitcoin’s price fluctuations. It seems large investors, rather than individual retail investors, are now the key players in this latest surge.
Horsley highlighted that wallets containing over 1,000 BTC have seen an increase of nearly 100 since late January. This accumulation trend indicates that experienced investors, often recognised as the ‘smart money’, are backing Bitcoin even during dips. Despite Bitcoin’s recent sideways movement after surpassing $95,000, moving back to $94,733 with a small gain of 0.72% over the past day, bullish activity was seen as the price rebounded from a brief low of $92,000 over the weekend.
Looking at the market, it’s becoming clear that this current rally is unlike previous ones where retail interest was the primary driver. Institutions and corporations, along with financial advisories and government entities, are taking the lead. Analyst Ali Martinez has observed a correlation between the growth of large Bitcoin holders and the cryptocurrency’s recovery in April, which further supports the idea of institutional investment playing a significant role.
Additionally, a contributor from CryptoQuant, under the name “BorisVest,” pointed out that Bitcoin is now in a stagnation phase. Many short-term holders are cashing in on their profits, which is making it tough to break past critical resistance levels. Currently, the market seems to be balancing out in terms of coin inflows and outflows — it’s a fairly neutral situation.
The data from Spent Output Value Bands reveal that while whales and institutional investors are spending their Bitcoin as prices rise, there’s a sort of cautious profit-booking happening. In fact, shifts in the Net Realized Profit/Loss metric show a fluctuation from $2 billion in losses to $3 billion in profits, marking recent profit-taking behaviour quite vividly.
While Bitcoin’s exchange reserves have been stabilising after previously decreasing, this could pose a risk of increased selling pressure if there’s not enough new demand absorbing the current profit realisations. On the other hand, the SOPR metric climbing to 1.04 points out that those who bought around local lows are starting to realise their gains.
As Bitcoin nears the critical $96,000 resistance point, breaking above with strong volume could potentially establish new support, paving the way for further price increases. However, if it fails to surpass this level, we might face another correction driven by selling pressures.
