The price of the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin ($BTC) has been surging exponentially over the last few months to the point it has recently surpassed the $50,000 mark for the first time since December 2021. Nevertheless, BTC whales aren’t satisfied and have kept on accumulating.
Bitcoin is currently trading above $52,000 after surging nearly 100% over the last six months over the excitement surrounding the launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States, along with the demand these funds brought in for the cryptocurrency. These ETFs have, according to data from BitMEX Research, attracted net flows of over $4.5 billion since launch.
According to popular cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez, Bitcoin whales – meaning addresses with large amounts of BTC – have collectively added over 100,000 BTC to their holdings over the last ten days, meaning the accumulation was over $5 billion.
It’s unclear whether the Bitcoin addresses of spot Bitcoin ETFs were included or excluded in the data, but it underscores the growing pressure being put on Bitcoin’s supply ahead of its upcoming halving event in April, which will reduce the coinbase reward miners receive for finding blocks.
Some analysts have made various bullish Bitcoin price predictions based on a potential supply shock occurring after the halving, as new supply of BTC on the market will be cut in half in the event.
Tuur Demeester, a popular cryptocurrency analyst and early Bitcoin evangelist, has for example forecasted that Bitcoin’s value will soar to between $200,000 and $600,000 by 2026, fueled by trillions of dollars of government bailouts and stimulus.
Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, has maintained a forecast of a significant price increase for the cryptocurrency, suggesting that the price at the time of Bitcoin’s halving, multiplied by four, indicates where Bitcoin’s price could head in that cycle. This methodology leads him to believe that his $170,000 price prediction is conservative given the current momentum.
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