Bitcoin whales offloaded huge amounts of Bitcoin in February, according to a new report by cryptocurrency market data aggregator, Glassnode.

So-called ‘whales’ are defined as addresses holding between 1,000 BTC and 10,000 BTC, with ‘humpback whales’ holding over 10,000 BTC.

In addition, the report revealed the number of whales rose by more than 14% in the year to 5 February 2021.

The buying spree from whales and humpbacks hit a high in January as they obtained 80,000 BTC, worth $3.84 billion at today’s prices, Cointelegraph reports.

However, since February, whales and humpbacks looked to have enjoyed major profits, offloading 140,000 BTC, equating to $6.72 billion since the beginning of the month.

The data reveals an inverse-correlation between whales’ trading activities to smaller investors.

Glassnode added that so-called “dolphins” and “sharks” – holding between 100 BTC and 1,000 BTC – offloaded 95,000 BTC worth $4.56 billion last month, but turned bullish this month, collectively amassing 117,000 Bitcoin ($5.61 billion) since the beginning of the month: “Important to note is how the supply changes for the Dolphin/Shark class (purple) and Whale/Humpback class (green) are mirrored in volume and shape. Where one class sees increasing volume, the other sees decreasing volume (and vice-versa).”

The “Octopus” and “Fish” wallets – holding between 10 BTC and 100 BTC – have been offloading their holdings consistently since November last year, selling over 128,000 Bitcoin or $6.14 billion in under four months.

This week’s 20% price crash led to intense action for whales, bolstered by one whale who cashed out $156 million before Monday’s price dip, the Cointelegraph report goes on to add.

Moreover, according to research from trading platform CrossTower, institutional buying will keep Bitcoin above $50,000 in the long-term.
Martin Gaspar, research analyst at CrossTower stated: "In our view, many institutional investors are entering with a buy-and-hold mentality given their understanding of Bitcoin as digital gold. The on-chain data suggests that these investors, traditionally seen as smart money, saw the January price weakness as an opportunity to acquire BTC or enter the space, which supports our bullish view of BTC."