These Bitcoin addresses accumulated the most BTC during the recent rally to $71,000: ITB

Earlier this week, bitcoin (BTC) surged more than 13% to a five-week high daily close of $71,400, dragging the rest of the crypto market higher.

Data from IntoTheBlock has revealed that a certain cohort of Bitcoin investors accumulated more assets than others during the surge.

Bitcoin whales on the hoard

According to IntoTheBlock, Bitcoin addresses holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC (whales) were the main BTC hoarders as the asset’s value rose past $71,000. These addresses collectively added 20,000 BTC, worth roughly $1.4 billion at current prices, to their balances over the past seven days.

The BTC price surge and the whales’ build-up coincided with steady inflows into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at the time. These investment vehicles have experienced nine consecutive days of inflows exceeding $1.75 billion.

Bitcoin whales have rallied this month amid a crypto market that has seen significant volatility. CryptoPotato reported in early May that this cohort of investors amassed 15,121 BTC worth $941 million in 24 hours, pushing their collective wallet balance to its highest level in two weeks.

Elsewhere, data from CryptoQuant revealed that Bitcoin whales acquired 47,000 BTC worth more than $2.8 billion in the 24 hours ending May 3.

The surge in BTC hoarding by whales follows a long period of profit-taking that saw this cohort of market participants move their assets to crypto exchanges en masse. Their unrealized profit margins rose to high levels after BTC reached its all-time high of $73,700 in mid-March and they unloaded their assets to take profits.

Bitcoin runs

While whales are aggressively hoarding BTC, the cryptocurrency has been on the decline since yesterday. Data from CoinMarketCap showed BTC hovering around $67,400 at the time of writing, having shed 3.6% in the past 24 hours.

Yesterday, the crypto asset fell roughly $2,000 in minutes as the market experienced volatility in anticipation of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ruling on eight applications for spot Ethereum ETFs. Although the SEC has approved the listing of the funds, both BTC and Ether have not seen gains as a result.

However, the growing number of non-empty stablecoin wallets suggests that a significant increase may soon occur.

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