Bitcoin whales jumping ship as exchange inflows reach 3-month high

The number of Bitcoin whales is rapidly decreasing to levels not seen since earlier this year, possibly due to the three-month high of coin inflows to centralized exchanges (CEXs).

Bitcoin (BTC) market tracker Glassnode has issued several bearish indicators for the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, including data suggesting a market exit for whales holding at least 1,000 coins, and exchange inflows of more than 1.7 million coins, the most since February.

High CEX inflows of BTC suggest whales are potentially exiting the market by selling coins, possibly as a way to prepare for a longer market downtrend. Cointelegraph reported on May 7 that recent sell-offs were likely executed by short-term holders who had accumulated coins in late January and early February when prices had reached a 6-month low of about $34,800.

Unfavorable outlooks on the market based on hard data have led the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index to drop to 11, the “Extreme Fear” region. The index rates the general amount of fear or greed among Bitcoin investors.

Despite the poor sentiment, BTC daily transactions do not yet appear to have been negatively affected. According to on-chain data from YCharts, there were 233,892 daily transactions worth about $30 billion on May 8, which has been about the average since January.

Lead on-chain analyst at Glassnode “Checkmate” tweeted on Sunday “Many of you are waiting for the Bitcoin ‘capitulation wick’,” partially confirming the notion that investors expect BTC to continue to fall. A capitulation wick is usually characterized by a relatively long, sudden, and catastrophic drop in price, like the one witnessed on March 12, 2020, when BTC dropped 43% in a day to around $4,600.

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Market analyst Caleb Franzen tweeted to his 11,000 followers on Sunday that investors should look for markets to continue trending downward based on his analysis suggesting we will remain “short-term bearish.” He concluded by stating that it “seems worthwhile to expect more pain.”

BTC is currently down 10.39% over the past seven days, trading at about $33,806 according to Cointelegraph data.