Cryptocurrency whales have become significantly more active in two Ethereum-based altcoins, according to blockchain data that foreshadows “major volatility” and potential price reversals for these two altcoins.
According to on-chain analytics firm Santiment, whale activity has been surging for both Optimism ($OP) and Chiliz ($CHZ) in a move that “typically will foreshadow” major price volatility and reversals.
It’s worth noting that Optimism’s OP token is currently trading at $3.7 after moving up nearly 8% over the last week, and 4.5% over the last 30 days, whlle CHZ is up 1.8% in the last week and around 3% over the past month to now trade at $0.12.
Cryptocurrency whales have been rather active over the last few weeks, at a time in which the cryptocurrency market has been soaring, with Bitcoin recently surpassing the $70,000 mark amid growing expectations the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will soon approve spot Ether exchange-traded funds.
As reported, a long-dormant Bitcoin whale has seemingly resurfaced after nearly 11 years and has recently moved 1,000 BTC worth nearly $61 million to new cryptocurrency wallets.
According on-chain analysis service Lookonchain, the whale made two transactions after being inactive for 10.7 years, moving funds from two wallets that received 500 BTC each back in September 2013, when Bitcoin was trading at just $124 per coin.
Institutional investors have entered the cryptocurrency space with force, with data suggesting that deep-pocketed investors gained interest in the space after the launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States, leading to whales accumulating over $16 billion in BTC since.
Recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have been revealing hedge funds and Wall Street giants added exposure to Bitcoin via spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the first quarter of the year, with Bracebridge Capital, a Boston-based hedge fund managing roughly $12 billion in assets, buying up $360 million over three funds.
The disclosure comes amid several others, with the U.S. state of Wisconsin recently becoming the first local government entity to reveal an investment in Bitcoin after purchasing 94,562 shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), worth nearly $100 million, in the first quarter of the year.
The move sees the state of Wisconsin join several Wall Street giants, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, in revealing BTC exposure through investment in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, according to 13F filings.
JPMorgan revealed an investment of $731,246 in BlackRock’s IBIT ETF, Bitwise’s BITB, Fidelity’s FBTC, and Grayscale’s GBTC, while Wells Fargo disclosed $141,817 in GBTC holdings. BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon have also made similar disclosures.
BNP Paribas, the second-largest bank in Europe whose asset management arm has over $600 billion in assets under management, has gained exposure to the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin in the first quarter of the year as well by purchasing shares of IBIT.
Featured image via Unsplash.
