CryptoQuant: whales withdrew $ 1.2 billion in bitcoin from the crypto market in 2 weeks

Over the past two weeks, major bitcoin holders BTC $61,026.89 Bitcoin -0.89% Market capitalization $1.2 trillion VOL. 24 hours $1.34 billion have sold $ 1.2 billion worth of coins using brokers instead of the open market. According to the analytical service CryptoQuant, the largest sellers were long-term holders of the flagship cryptocurrency and miners. Currently, the market shows no signs of recovering demand.

Analysts note: «Traders are not increasing their bitcoin holdings, and the growth in demand from large holders (whales) is still lacking. Liquidity of stablecoins continues to slow down, growing at the slowest pace since November 2023.»

The decline in assets has been observed since the price of BTC surpassed $ 70,000 in late May. This is confirmed by the decreasing age ranges of unspent bitcoin transaction outcomes (UTXO) tracked by CryptoQuant. A decrease in UTXO ages usually indicates an increase in bitcoin activity and therefore sales.

Miners are increasingly turning their attention to the artificial intelligence sector rather than bitcoin, selling their holdings instead of holding them. Since both sectors are heavily dependent on powerful computing chips, miners are using their resources to generate and store data.

Lucy Hu, Senior Research Analyst at Metalpha, said: «One of the biggest trends following this year’s halving is that miners are increasingly refocusing on AI businesses. The halving has forced miners to look for other channels to increase their profits.»

Bitcoin hoarding by whales has reached a nearly four-year high, which was last seen in 2020. Whales are accumulating bitcoins at a pace reminiscent of the bullish trend of 2020, CoinDesk notes.