A recent uptick in the flow of leading stablecoins USDC and USDT to centralized cryptocurrency trading platforms is raising eyebrows among market analysts. The trend could potentially be a precursor to BTC price rises.
According to Alex Adler Jr, a cryptocurrency analyst at crypto analytics firm CryptoQuant, the average monthly inflow of USDC and USDT into cryptocurrency exchanges is now at $53 billion per day, which “is above the annual average.”
Per the analyst, a record $72 billion worth of these leading stablecoins moved to exchanges when the price of the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was at $70,000, with a rise in stablecoin inflows directly correlating with BTC purchases.
However, it’s important to note that correlation does not equal causation. Other factors, such as regulatory developments, macroeconomic conditions, and overall market sentiment, also influence Bitcoin’s price trajectory.
These inflows come at a time in which Bitcoin miners have significantly reduced their BTC reserves over the last few months, to the point they’re not at their lowest level since January 2021, when the cryptocurrency’s price exploded from around $25,000 to over $69,000 before entering a downturn.
The total amount of Bitcoin held by miners has plummeted to a three-year low as a direct consequence of the recent halving upgrade in April, which halved the coinbase reward miners receive per new block found.
According to a report from Bloomberg citing Kaiko data, the amount of Bitcoin held by miners has dropped to around 1.5 million BTC, worth around $86 billion. Miners have notably seen selling tokens since the cryptocurrency market rallied in late 2023, with the proceeds from these sales often being used to fund their operations.
Data from cryptocurrency analytics firm CryptoQuant confirms there has been a severe downtrend in miner reserves, with its data pointing to reserves of around 1.8 million BTC.
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