FOMO or sell-off? Bitcoin whales trigger frenzy at $68K

Bitcoin (BTC) is hovering around the $68,000 price level with an all-time high Open Interest (OI) of $20 billion seen on the charts. Data shows that BTC whales are pumping the crypto’s price toward a new ATH.

BTC price hit $68,400 on Wednesday, the highest since July after it gained over 11% in just 7 days. It has dragged the rest of the crypto crew with it as Solana is also up 10%, and Dogecoin jumped 15% in the same period. The gains also spread to crypto stocks, Coinbase jumped 7% with a three-day rally of 19% to hit its highest levels since August. 

Bitcoin whales are making waves

As per Santiment data, Bitcoin whale transactions have hit their highest levels over the past 10 weeks. More than 11,600 transactions worth at least $100k were recorded on the network on Tuesday and Wednesday. These whale moves are also on pace for a high mark as well. 

It added that Bitcoin generated more social media buzz than altcoins, accounting for over a quarter of all discussions. Traders and investors are discussing the prices after BTC breached $68K for the first time since July.

The market intelligence platform suggests that both of these points signal that the rally might go on hold due to stakeholder profit-taking and crowd FOMO. Moving ahead, the mid and long-term metrics are still looking bullish for the market as any price correction would be temporary.

Bitcoin open interest hits $20B

Ki Young Ju, founder of Cryptoquant, reported that Bitcoin open interest hit an ATH of $20 billion as the largest crypto by market cap stands just 8% away from its ATH. Earlier, he highlighted that new whales have been adding more BTC lately. These wallets now hold 1.97 million BTC.

He added that these whales each hold more than 1k BTC with an average coin age of just under 155 days. Their BTC balance has surged 813% YTD, taking up 9.3% of the total supply. It is valued at around $132 billion.

#Bitcoin open interest hit an all-time high of $20 billion, and the price is 8% away from its ATH. pic.twitter.com/wDpA29o4K4

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) October 17, 2024

Bitcoin price is moving on an upward trajectory, gaining more than 14% in the last 30 days. BTC is trading at an average price of $67,249 as of press time. Its 24-hour trading volume dropped by 26% to stand at $36.54 billion.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have fueled BTC’s 53% rise this year. Investors have pumped $1.2 billion into ETFs in just the last three days, pushing total holdings to $63 billion. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust accounts for 30% of these purchases.