How Much Bitcoin Does Each Crypto Whale Hold on Average?

Author: Biraajmaan Tamuly, CoinTelegraph; Compiler: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

Since March 2024, the number of Bitcoin whale transactions worth more than $100,000 has fallen by 48%, while the price of Bitcoin has fallen by 20% over the same period.

So how do the actions of Bitcoin's richest investors affect the price, and how many BTC does each whale hold on average?

Bitcoin addresses with 1000+ BTC account for 40% of the total supply

Data from data analysis platform Santiment shows that BTC whale transactions fell to 60.2K in the last week of August from a high of 115.1K between March 13 and March 19.

Despite the decline in whale activity over the past six months, the long-term accumulation of whale addresses remains relatively high.

Meanwhile, data from Intotheblock shows that Bitcoin addresses holding 1,000-10,000 BTC account for the largest share of Bitcoin's total supply, at 24.17%.

As shown in the figure below, addresses holding 10 to 100 BTC and 100 to 1,000 BTC also account for a large share of the supply, at 22.08% and 20.32%, respectively.

Bitcoin ownership chart. Source: intotheblock

As of March 2019, addresses holding 10-100 BTC accounted for the largest share of BTC supply, and the number of Bitcoin whales (minimum 1,000 BTC) has increased since then.

Bitcoin holdings balance. Source: Intotheblock

The supply held by whales (1,000 BTC-10,000 BTC) peaked in January 2021, with a total share of 30%. Since then, this proportion has dropped to 24.17%, with redistribution between the other two groups.

What is the average whale's reserve?

While the above groups hold close to 60% of the supply, the average supply per whale is less than 1,000. Glassnode's on-chain data shows that the current supply per whale is close to 550 BTC.

Bitcoin supply per whale (100-10K BTC). Source: glassnode

But it’s important to note that addresses above 100 BTC in the above chart are considered whales.

Specifically, the whale supply metric was originally created by Charles Edwards to measure the accumulation and distribution behavior of large Bitcoin holders.

It is defined as the total supply owned by addresses holding 100 to 10,000 BTC divided by the number of addresses.

Therefore, it increases when whales accumulate and decreases during distribution events.

However, if we consider addresses with more than 1,000-10,000 BTC to be legitimate whales, the average supply per address is about 2,401.

Whale accumulation heat map shows BTC support at $52,000

Source: Chainexposed

The Bitcoin whale accumulation heat map shows that BTC around $52,000 is supported by a large number of buyers. The data shows that during February 2024, the buyer concentration increased from $515,000 to $523,000.

Interestingly, after whales accumulated into this particular range in Q1 2024, BTC price rose by 42%.

BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

The same range could become an area of ​​demand and support for Bitcoin if it pulls back to this price point again.

In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has risen by 2% but is currently facing resistance at the 200-day EMA (orange indicator).