Whales and institutions are increasing their Bitcoin holdings ahead of Easter

By A. B. C. Updated Apr 19, 2023 at 1:13 a.m. PDT.

Institutions are continuing to increase their Bitcoin (BTC) holdings ahead of Easter weekend, while market analysts predict less volatility after two weeks of heightened volatility driven by escalating global trade tensions.

London-based investment firm Abraxas Capital, linked to a wallet address, had acquired 2,949 Bitcoin (BTC) for over $250 million during the four days leading up to April 19.

In the latest transaction, the firm bought over $45 million worth of Bitcoin from Binance on April 18, according to crypto intelligence firm Lookonchain, citing Arkham Intelligence data.

The investment came days after Michael Saylor’s Strategy bought $285 million worth of Bitcoin at an average price of $82,618 per BTC.

The world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holders are signaling continued confidence in Bitcoin, amid global tariff uncertainty.

Large Bitcoin investors, or whales, are continuing to accumulate, absorbing over 300% of Bitcoin’s yearly issuance as exchanges continue losing coins at a historic pace,

Crypto analysts eye quiet Easter weekend after weeks of turmoilDespite continued accumulation from whales and institutions, volatility concerns were raised by significant movements from the medium-term Bitcoin cohort, which holds coins for an average of three to six months.

Over 170,000 Bitcoin entered circulation from the medium-term cohort, a development that may signal “imminent” crypto market volatility, according to pseudonymous CryptoQuant analyst Mignolet.

“The effect of this metric on LTF moves is overstated as large onchain movement of coins hardly ever affects weekend price action since it’s not on liquid markets or CEX markets,” analysts at Bitfinex exchange told Bitfinex exchange.

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COO of RedStone Oracles, Marcin Kazmierczak, added that the recent movements may be operational transfers, not necessarily indicating selling pressure.

Still, concerns over weekend volatility have been amplified over the past two weeks after the Mantra (OM) token's price collapsed by over 90% on Sunday, April 13, from roughly $6.30 to below $0.50, triggering market manipulation allegations and highlighting “critical” liquidity issues in the industry.

Two weeks ago, on April 6, Bitcoin fell below $75,000 on Sunday, as investor concerns spread from a record-breaking  $5 trillion sell-off from the S&P 500, its largest on record.

The correction was caused by Bitcoin’s 24/7 trading availability, which made it the only large liquid asset available for de-risking on Sunday, Blockstream CEO Adam Back told Bitfinex exchange.

“On a weekend, there’s not much volume. So you have a worse risk of rapid sort of flash crashes or flash dips that get filled in again,” he said.