Bitcoin Whales Are Back: Large BTC Transactions Over $100K Have Doubled in the Past Week

Large transactions often point to activity from large holders referred to as whales or institutional players rather than retail traders.

Recent days have seen a surge in Bitcoin's large transactions, with the number of BTC transactions exceeding $100,000 doubling last week, as noted by crypto analyst Ali in a recent tweet.

"The number of Bitcoin (BTC) transactions exceeding $100,000 have doubled last week, rising from 15,620 to 32,320," Ali noted, sharing a screenshot of IntoTheBlock's metric for Bitcoin's number of large transactions.

This surge in Bitcoin's large transactions coincides with growing optimism in the broader crypto market.

Ali noted that large transactions are typically associated with activity from large holders, such as "whales" or institutional players, rather than retail traders. Given the recent positive developments in the crypto space, institutions may be increasing their exposure to Bitcoin.

In a related development, Santiment reported an increase in Bitcoin's large holder addresses this week, with those holding 100 to 1,000 BTC reaching an all-time high of 15,777 such wallets.

"This rise in key stakeholder confidence is another promising sign for a bullish 2025," Santiment noted.

Bitcoin had a record-breaking week, reaching a high of $109,358 on Monday and trading around $104,734 at the time of writing, according to data from Binance. It has risen by over 50% so far in January.

On Thursday, an executive order was issued to promote digital asset adoption in the United States. Later on Thursday, the SEC made a historic announcement, lifting a key accounting rule that hindered institutional crypto adoption.

The rule, known as SAB 121, was implemented in 2022 and imposed stringent capital requirements for digital assets, increasing the financial and regulatory risks involved in providing cryptocurrency custody services and banking institutions' operational costs.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who was appointed on Tuesday to lead a new "crypto task force" within the agency, hailed the decision. Gary Gensler stepped down as SEC chairman earlier this week.

Bitcoin pioneer and Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht was granted a full pardon this week. He had been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole since 2015.