Bitcoin’s active addresses reached a new all-time high, according to data from on-chain analytics platform Glassnode.
Source: Glassnode
The previous cycle that saw a record number of active addresses was during the bull run in late 2017, which saw a significant amount of interest from retail traders.
Many have postulated that this bull run is vastly different than that of 2017, which was largely driven by retail traders making speculative bets on the cryptocurrency.
This bull run is said to be institutionally driven, with large financial institutions including Guggenheim and Fidelity, taking positions in the market-leading cryptocurrency.
In fact, for most retail investors and traders, being a whole-coiner is largely out of reach, given the fact that Bitcoin is now trading at above $40,700.
The presence of these institutions doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no room for retail traders, however, as the sharp uptick in the number of active addresses indicates that some amount of retail FOMO buying is still taking place despite the current price levels.
On-chain analyst Willy Woo suggests that while the narrative is institutional money, it’s the institutional narrative that’s given Bitcoin the validation to encourage bigger retail investors to make large bets.
Willy Woo goes on to say that “Now we have family offices serving the wealthy rushing in needing exposure. There’s a lot of requests for $1m+ buys happening.”
Source: Glassnode
This is evidenced by the fact that the number of addresses holding over 1k worth of Bitcoin has been continuously increasing. Woo explains that this is also the reason why the price has gone vertical, as when many buyers compete against each other for coins, the price premium runs up.
The current bull run is only accelerating, as Bitcoin climbed from $20k to $25k in 10 days, but climbed from $35k to $40k in only 2 days.