The number of active addresses on the Bitcoin network has hit a new all-time high above 22.3 million last month. The price of the cryptocurrency has surged to a new all-time high during the same period.
According to data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, the flagship cryptocurrency’s active address numbers last month were at a new all-time high, surpassing the previous record of 21.8 million active addresses seen in December 2017, when BTC’s price hit a then-record high near $20,000.
The firm’s data shows that the creation of new unique addresses on the network peaked in early January, with 682,000 addresses being created on January 7. The figure is above a previous record of 655,000 addresses on December 17, 2020.
It’s worth noting that active addresses on the Bitcoin network do not necessarily mean active users. Anyone can create a new bitcoin address for free and with very little effort, and as such one user may have hundreds or even thousands of addresses. How many people actively use BTC is unknown.
The price of bitcoin went up last month as institutional investors and corporations have been adopting the cryptocurrency in a bid to hedge against inflation and currency debasement. Glassnode, Finance Magnates reports, notified the supply of BTC stored on exchange wallets has reached its lowest level in more than two years.
This suggests a supply squeeze could soon happen, as supply has been trending downward while demand keeps going up. After the halving, which reduced block rewards from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC, it’s believed miners are not mining enough coins to keep up with institutional demand.
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju has numerous times pointed toward massive BTC outflows from Coinbase that suggest institutional investors are storing their newly bought coins in cold wallets after buying them in over-the-counter deals.
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