Crypto Exchanges Now Have 13% of the Total Bitcoin Supply

Bitcoin whales are moving their digital assets from crypto exchanges to wallets. According to the latest data published by Glassnode, a leading on-chain analytics platform, the overall Bitcoin balance on crypto exchanges has reached its lowest level since February 2018.

Crypto exchanges now have 13.1% of the total circulating Bitcoin supply. The latest plunge came after crypto whale addresses moved the world’s most valuable digital asset from leading exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Huobi to unknown crypto wallets.

“Bitcoin exchange balances have returned to 13.1% of circulating BTC supply, winding back the clock on inflows to Feb 2018. The all-time peak exchange balance was 17%, hit on the exact bottom of the March 2020 sell-off. The trend changed that day,” Glassnode mentioned.

In July 2021, Bitcoin whale accounts transferred more than $1 billion worth of BTC from Coinbase to crypto wallets in three separate transactions. During the same month, Finance Magnates reported a significant drop in the exchange supply ratio of BTC.

Bitcoin Accumulation

BTC’s recent volatility is not stopping whales from the accumulation of the world’s largest cryptocurrency. According to Glassnode, Bitcoin’s accumulation activity has increased sharply in the last few weeks.

“Following the sell-off in March 2020, a structural trend of increasing coin illiquidity has dominated the on-chain supply dynamics, as more coins transitioned out of exchange balances, and into long-term investor wallets. After the moderate exchange inflows in May 2021, this downtrend in liquid coin supply (increasing HODLing behavior) has resumed, suggesting macro conviction to hold BTC remains a dominant force in the market. It appears that despite significant volatility through 2021, long-term Bitcoin investors continue to accumulate and keep coins in cold storage,” Glassnode added.

Bitcoin saw a jump in retail and institutional demand in the last 24 hours as the price of BTC crossed $47,000. The current market cap of BTC stands at around $880 billion, which is up by more than 4% since yesterday.