Share of New Bitcoin Whales on the Rise: Here’s Why It Is Bullish

The holdings of large short-term Bitcoin holders, otherwise called new whales, continue to rise, potentially indicating that the asset is still firmly in a bull market. Over the past few weeks, the Bitcoin bull market has repeatedly come under question as the asset's price has seen wild swings without a clear direction. Amid the uncertainty, a top crypto analytics platform has now highlighted a key metric that may present insight into the current stage of the market.New Whales on the RiseThe holdings of new Bitcoin whales are on the rise, potentially indicating that the asset is still firmly in a bull market.This is according to a recent report shared by prominent crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant on Monday, January 27.The platform defines new whales as large market participants who have held over 1,000 BTC for less than 155 days, implying that they are likely more involved in trading and responsive to market conditions.According to the recent CryptoQuant report, these whales now held a 60% share of the realized cap of large market holders. The platform noted that the market share of these whales has been growing since about July 2024, when Bitcoin traded for around $55,000. At the time, their share of the realized cap was only about 17%. Chart showing the Bitcoin realized cap of new whales against old whales. Source: CryptoQuant Chart showing the Bitcoin realized cap of new whales against old whales. Source: CryptoQuant The metric is important as the behavior of these market participants often indicates the market phase, with their rising share suggesting that they remain optimistic and the market is likely still in a bull market.The recent CryptoQuant analysis follows a similar report from Glassnode just over a week ago. Glassnode suggested that the bull market was still intact, citing the MVRV Z-score and the minimal unrealized losses held by market participants.Still, at the time of writing, Bitcoin's daily candle chart continues to paint a worrying picture in the short term with the asset spotting a double top formation with a neckline just below $92,000.