For the first time in weeks, bitcoin managed to gain over the weekend. The flagship cryptocurrency traded above the $35,000 trading zone, on news of whale accumulation.
According to on-chain analytics company, Santiment, whales have now purchased 60,000 Bitcoins in one day. This represents the highest daily increase of the year.
Whales have now acquired a total of 100k Bitcoins over the past 6 weeks. The company tweeted, “Bitcoin whale addresses holding between 100 to 10k BTC kicked off July with a 60k BTC accumulation spike, the highest daily spike of 2021. These addresses hold 9.12M coins combined after holding 100k less BTC just 6 weeks ago.”
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From the chart, we can now see that major Bitcoin holders are now accumulating sizable amounts of Bitcoin despite a decrease in the mining difficulty. This week, the Bitcoin mining difficulty drop by a staggering 28% in its biggest single adjustment in history. Global mining hash rate also reduced and the notion, price follows hash rate, held by most miners seems untrue with the latest spike. Bitcoin’s hash rate also hit a new 19-month low of 87.6 TH/s.
Other news causing a rally in the market is the Q2 Report from the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC). Nairametrics reported that the BMC released its first-ever voluntary survey and estimated that the global Bitcoin mining industry now uses 56% sustainable energy. The environmental concerns of Bitcoin mining became mainstream as a result of Tesla boss, Elon Musk, who shared his concerns about the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining and ultimately stopped the electric car company from receiving payments in Bitcoin.
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Because of this, the Bitcoin mining council was created, headed by CEO of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, but Elon Musk was excluded from the council. Elon Musk later stated last month that Tesla would resume allowing Bitcoin transactions when the global Bitcoin mining network was verifiably backed by at least 50% green energy. Now that the report reveals a 56% sustainable energy, the cryptocurrency world is waiting for the electric car dealer to make his move to resume accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment because this is well above his 50% benchmark.
What to expect
Bitcoin miners continue to leave China following its ban on mining operations. There are no indications that the country would rescind its ban even though the BMC reported 56% green mining. Observers have asserted that the ban is in effect because the Asian country wants to promote its CBDC. China is preparing to launch its Digital Yuan whose distribution has already begun in some cities. This will make them the first country to issue a digital currency.
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So far, there is no indication of a rally as more corrections are expected. Nairametrics reported that the seven-day moving average of Bitcoin active addresses fell to approximately 500,000, the lowest since April 2020, crashing over 60% in 6 weeks.
Also, there is the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) unlocking. Certain experts speculated that selling pressure resulting from the GBTC unlocking may cause a $25,000 price correction. The unlocking is said to be scheduled for July 19. In contrast, other market observers have argued that BTC already bottomed out at $28,000 and a bullish trend is up next.
Bitcoin is trading at $35,500, up 2.27% for the day, as of the time of writing this report.