(GBTC), (ETHE) – Why Bitcoin ‘whales’ are not ready to cash, even at record highs

Bitcoin (BTC) addresses that contain more than 1,000 BTC – valued at $ 38.41 million at press time – are now at an all-time high of 2,334, CoinDesk reported Thursday.

What happened: According to CoinDesk, “Whale” accounts, or accounts with large stakes in BTC, have increased 3.7% since December, when their number stood at 2,221.

Compared to the previous bull market in 2017, large accounts increased by 30%.

There are at least 6,633 addresses that hold more than $ 10 million in BTC, according to data from BitInfoCharts.

On Wednesday, the combined market value of cryptocurrencies broke the $ 1 trillion mark, with BTC alone boasting a market cap of $ 685.75 billion.

CoinDesk Research’s quarterly review report noted that Bitcoin’s decline seen at the end of December sparked “little interest” in profit-taking from large holders.

Why is this important: Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $ 40,180.37 on Thursday and has returned 32.35% since the start of the new year.

Asked Thursday about CNBC’s halftime show Where Bitcoin went, Chamath Palihapitiya, chairman of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPCE) said, “probably going to a hundred then 150 then 200,000”.

“In what period I don’t know five years, ten years, but it’s going out there and the reason is that every time you see everything that is going on it just reminds you that wow our leaders are not so worthy trusted and reliable that they have used it to be, ”said the billionaire investor.

Palihapitiya described the apex cryptocurrency as “insurance” and said it gives people access to “uncorrelated hedging and will eventually move on to something much bigger.”

The “SPAC King” started investing in Bitcoin in 2012 and has since sold all of his individual bitcoins, choosing instead to invest through companies that own cryptocurrencies.

See also: MicroStrategy Now Owns 70,470 Bitcoin After Spending $ 1.1 Billion In 2020

Price action: Bitcoin traded 2.84% higher at $ 38,338.34 at the time of publication. On Thursday, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC: GBTC) closed 2.37% higher at $ 44.97 and Grayscale Ethereum Trust (OTC: ETHE) closed 1.18% lower at $ 14.61.