Hovering a little below $52,000, Bitcoin is still down by approximately 25% since its all-time high of the previous bull run. The leading crypto asset, however, is seeing a tremendously improved sentiment among investors.

In fact, Bitcoin holdings on Coinbase, which is a leading crypto exchange in the space and the largest in the US, have fallen to their lowest level since 2017. And whales are betting big on the asset.

Whales Make Big Bets

As per CryptoQuant analyst’s latest data, more than 18,000 BTC, valued at around $1 billion, were identified to have been removed from the platform by whales.

After the withdrawal of such a significant stash of Bitcoin from Coinbase, the funds were distributed across several new wallets, with values ranging between $45 million and $171 million.

Subsequently, Coinbase’s public order book now holds around 394,000 BTC, equivalent to a little over $20.5 billion. CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju further revealed that the funds were moved to multiple non-exchange addresses, likely custodial wallets.

18K $BTC moved from Coinbase to multiple non-exchange addresses, likely custodial wallets.https://t.co/QR5QYBnoez pic.twitter.com/s1b9tSx7qj

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) February 20, 2024

Accumulation Game Strong

The demand for Bitcoin is evident as whales have engaged in the highest level of activity not seen in nearly two years. In 2024, large holders with 1,000 to 10,000 BTC in their wallets accumulated approximately $13 billion worth of the asset. Meanwhile, those with holdings ranging from 100 to 1,000 BTC shed their holdings by $7.89 billion.

😮 Independent from the impressive volume happening with #Bitcoin #ETF‘s, there has been a distinct flip in the level of $BTC‘s supply being held by different sized wallets:

🐳 1K-10K $BTC wallets: $12.95B added in 2024
🐋 100-1K $BTC wallets: $7.89B dropped in 2024

(Cont) 👇 pic.twitter.com/BL7Mrj6kLq

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 16, 2024

Such a trend of whales moving their stash away from centralized crypto exchange is usually a positive sign. Last week, Bitcoin whale wallets acquired over 100,000 BTC, estimated to be approximately $5 billion, in a span of just ten days alone. Historically, such accumulation points signal price appreciation.

The latest whale movements come amid a market-wide rally spurred by the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Following their successful launch and the subsequent massive inflow, all eyes are on the Bitcoin halving, which is likely to occur in April this year. Hence, the transfer to custodial wallets may indicate the increased confidence of a price surge ahead of the fact.