The number of addresses holding 1 BTC or more has now crossed the one million mark.
Glassnode’s data reveals that the number of wallet addresses holding one whole BTC or more has exceeded one million. This significant milestone settled on May 13 represents a clear indication of the sustained growth in the popularity of Bitcoin and the increasing adoption of the cryptocurrency among investors.
Investors have actively accumulated Bitcoin since the market setback happened last year. The largest cryptocurrency lost 65% of its value after a series of events triggered multiple collapses throughout 2022.
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According to Glassnode’s report, the most significant surges in addresses holding at least one BTC were in June – one month after TerraUST crashed and November 11 – FTX bankruptcy declaration. Following the FTX saga, Bitcoin’s price dropped below $30,000 and sank to around $16,000 in December 2022.
But catastrophic events most likely catalyze a buying opportunity at a discounted price, increasing accumulation. Since a decline from its peak in November 2021, 190,000 new ‘whole-coiners’ have joined the ranks, with the bulk of this growth taking place from early February 2022.
This trend has not gone unnoticed. On May 12, Glassnode co-founder Negentropic told his Twitter followers that ‘$25.8k remains a possibility,’ suggesting people ‘buy when there is Blood in the streets.’
Negentropic also stated that the potential pause on interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in the near future could further boost Bitcoin’s price, potentially pushing it to reach $35,000.
Speculations on the Fed’s interest rate decision have generated headlines since last year. Still, the gravity of the situation has become increasingly apparent following the recent banking turmoils in the U.S.
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A recent report published by the Federal Reserve revealed that over 700 American banks are facing significant unrealized losses, putting the Fed in a difficult position when it comes to making crucial decisions. As the situation unfolds, many investors look to Bitcoin as a hedge against potential economic instability, further driving up its demand and price.
However, whether a single address holding one or more BTC corresponds to one individual remains unknown. Many cryptocurrency investors possess multiple Bitcoin addresses, while others belong to large institutions like cryptocurrency exchanges and investment firms that hold substantial amounts of Bitcoin.
As per the data provided by CoinGlass, centralized exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance hold approximately 1.89 million BTC, with a total value of $50.7 billion. Additionally, a whopping 3 million BTC, accounting for roughly 17% of the total circulating supply and worth approximately $80.4 billion, was ‘lost forever,’ Glassnode’ reported.
BTC NFTs and BRC-20: Bitcoin’s New Fuel
The arrival of Bitcoin non-fungible tokens (NFTs) earlier this year sparked tremendous excitement among crypto and NFT members. To add more use cases to the Bitcoin blockchain, BRC-20 came onto the scene in March 2023 and quickly grabbed the spotlight.
Ordinals, the concept of numbering each satoshi generated during new block mining, enables the inclusion of images, videos, and HTML in a Bitcoin transaction, and they can be assigned to a specific satoshi. The BRC-20 token uses the inscription mechanism and Ordinals to create a new asset class that enables token creation, minting, and exchanging.
While some critics argue that the BRC-20 token wastes Bitcoin’s network storage space, many believe the decentralized nature of Bitcoin provides new opportunities. The growing popularity of these recent trends is driven by their security and compatibility with the Bitcoin ecosystem.
As time goes on, we will see if Bitcoin NFTs have lasting value, or they just fade into the history of blockchain development.
Although they are still in the alpha stage, BTC Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens have opened up new possibilities for everyone in the Bitcoin community, which could lead to more widespread adoption of the largest cryptocurrency.
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