Bitcoin whales join 'small fish' in buying BTC as price holds above $47K

Rich crypto investors are turning their attention back to Bitcoin (BTC) as its price continues to eye a breakout move above $50,000.

Crypto-focused newsletter Ecoinometrics reported positive changes in Bitcoin holdings for addresses controlling 1,000-10,000 BTC. So, based on their rising account balances throughout August, Ecoinometrics spotted a renewed accumulation sentiment among "whales," hinting that wealthy investors consider the current Bitcoin price levels as attractive to place bullish bets.

Bitcoin accumulation trend versus price levels. Source: Ecoinometrics

The sentiment appeared the same among small fishes—Bitcoin investors that hold less than 1 BTC. Ecoinometrics reported that they have been accumulating Bitcoin since June and, during a period, have also absorbed the selling pressure coming from the whales' side. Their buying sentiment coincided with a price rally to $50,000, a key psychological resistance level.

"Recently, there has been some on-chain divergence between small fish who are accumulating coins [and] whales who are offloading coins," tweeted Ecoinometrics on Sunday.

"That's not ideal [for supporting] Bitcoin's price, but it looks like things are changing! Whales are ticking back up."

Supportive data

Blockchain analytics platform Glassnode also reported a spike in buying sentiment among small fishes. In detail, the number of addresses holding at least 0.1 BTC reached a 3-month high of 3,231,069 on Monday, further validating the accumulation data above.

Bitcoin number of addresses holding over 0.1 BTC. Source: Glassnode 

Meanwhile, Glassnode's unspent transaction output (UTXO) data alert presented the $45,000-$50,000 range, wherein whales capitulated the most recently, as a strong support area.

"Over 1.65M BTC now have an on-chain cost basis within the $45k to $50k range," the platform tweeted Monday, adding:

"The $31k to $40k zone is also home to another 2.98M BTC, indicative of large accumulation demand."

Bitcoin UTXO realized price distribution. Source: Glassnode

Bitcoin holds above the 'green wave'

The whale and fish alert surfaces as the Bitcoin market await a clear breakout move above $50,000.

As it stands, the BTC/USD exchange rate has been consolidating under the said resistance level since Aug. 27. In doing so, the pair have also found interim support above $47,000, which, more or less, has been coinciding with a 20-day exponential moving average floor (20-day EMA; the green wave in the chart below).

BTC/USD daily price chart featuring the 20-day EMA support. Source: TradingView.com

Historically, a break below the 20-day EMA prompts traders to move their downside target to the 50-day EMA (currently near $43,500). Popular market analyst Rekt Capital also presented an outlook that highlighted the levels around $43,500 as Bitcoin's next support range.

Small fishes have accumulated Bitcoin relentlessly in the $40,000-$50,000 range, with no signs of trend reversals in the previous 30 days. On the other hand, whales underwent a capitulation period when Bitcoin entered the $45,000-$50,000 range.