Over 55 percent of bitcoins currently sit in wallets that have never made an outgoing transaction and have balances upwards of 200 coins, Diar reported on September 17, 2018.

Whale-Sized Wallets Dominate the Market

Long-term investors are keeping the faith in the king of cryptocurrencies despite the bears market in 2018, a data-crunching report from Diar showed. According to the publication, more than 55 percent of all circulating bitcoins are sitting in wallets that are valued well above $1.3 million at current prices.

The report also showed that over 87 percent of the pioneer cryptocurrency are stored in wallets that hold more than ten bitcoins, or around $60,000, bringing the total value just shy of $100 billion of the total market capitalization.

However, the most interesting fact brought to light by the report is that all of these coins sit in only 0.7 percent of all Bitcoin addresses.

An astounding 42 percent of bitcoins held in such investment wallets (above 200 BTC) made no outgoing movement during the price peak in December 2017 – and sat in wallets before the markets saw the near $20,000 BTC.

Down, but not Cashing out

In addition to the astute investors who keep holding onto their coins, an additional 3.8 percent of the total bitcoin supply resides in five wallets managed by significant exchanges. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis also indicated in a report in April that as much as one-third of the current Bitcoin supply is concentrated in the hands of 1,600 individuals.

And while Bitcoin’s prices have taken a nosedive at the end of 2017, the hash rate of the network seems to be climbing.

Bitcoin’s hashrate at time of press.
(Source: Blockchain)

Bitcoin’s growing hash rate is believed to be in direct correlation with the strengthening of the network’s infrastructure, which keeps bolstering the cryptocurrency’s appeal. This has the potential to dissuade hodlers who still haven’t moved any of their bitcoin from cashing out, as the network is now safer than ever.

Diar’s recent analysis seems to be in line with this, as it estimates that 27 percent of wallets that hold 200 or more bitcoin have significantly increased their stash since December 2017. However, the Chainalysis report from June 2018 showed that more than $30 billion bitcoin were sold off between December 2017 and April 2018.

The report also highlighted the possibility that around 30 percent of Bitcoin’s supply was still unmined. The report pointed to the fact that the still lucrative cryptocurrency was a cherry on top for long-term investors.