Here’s How Whales Prepared for Cryptocurrency Market Growth: CryptoQuant CEO

Ki Young Ju, the co-founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, has provided insights into the behavior of whales in the cryptocurrency market, specifically focusing on their preparations for market growth towards the end of 2023.

The latest highlights came after his October post, where he noted that Bitcoin whales were adopting a “risk-on mode,” indicating a bullish market sentiment, sending BTC to derivative exchanges.

Whales Actively Opened Long Positions in August

In his recent post, Ju highlighted that whales, significant holders in the cryptocurrency market, have been actively opening long positions, predominantly when Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at $29,000. He observed that this accumulation phase was initiated in early August 2023.

1/ Whale traders opened giga long positions at $29k.https://t.co/yrMLl9vhKW

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) December 4, 2023

Furthermore, Ju noted that many whales began entering the market during a cyclical low for BTC, which coincided with the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange in November 2022. He believes this is evident from the increased cryptocurrency transfers to derivative trading platforms during that period.

October saw a surge in whale activity in the United States, as indicated by an uptick in markups on the Coinbase premium index and the rise in assets on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

Ju noted that retail investors had yet to enter the market during this period. Despite this, he suggested that, given the prevailing conditions, the supply of BTC might struggle to keep up with the demand from large investors. Consequently, he posits that whales are unlikely to dispose of their Bitcoin reserves.

Whales Influenced BTC Surge

Data provided by Ju indicated that Bitcoin whales have been instrumental in supporting the current price action since August. During that period, Bitcoin reclaimed the higher price range around $20,000 and approached the critical resistance level at $30,000.

On December 4-5, Bitcoin reached a yearly high, trading above $42,000—its highest level since April 2022. Over the past month, Bitcoin’s price has surged by almost 19%, and since the beginning of 2023, it has increased 2.3 times. This bullish momentum is attributed to expectations that the U.S. will soon approve exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for direct investment in cryptocurrencies by large institutional investors.

Additional data from Material Indicators, as highlighted by analyst Keith Alan, confirms the increasing buying pressure from whales. Alan suggests that this behavior is aimed at attracting liquidity to the market. Once liquidity, primarily from retail investors, enters the market, whales can “distribute” their coins or “dump” on retail to profit from their positions.