A quarter of all Bitcoin belongs to the biggest holders. Over the past nine months, the largest players bought 450,000 BTC. What does that mean for the industry? Is it any danger in it?

“You never really know what’s coming. A small wave, or maybe a big one. All you can really do is hope that when it comes, you can surf over it, instead of drowning in its monstrosity.”

Waves are great if you are a surfer. Now you are set for point breaks, A-Frames, and 360s. However, too big splashes can cause damage. When someone is able to make such a significant wave that they could drown you, it raises concerns.

Big fishes in a small pond

According to new reports, the biggest crypto investors purchased 450,000 BTC over the course of the past nine months. Almost half a million of bitcoins. It equals $4 billion at today’s rate. Of course, the bear market at the end of 2018 helped a lot.

Diar, a cryptoanalytic website, published a report in which it was stated that more than ¼ (over 26%) of all BTC are in hands of crypto whales (people who have at least a thousand bitcoins and not more than 10 thousand). It is worth roughly $36 billion. Last time, when the Bitcoin price was at $8,000 level (August 2018), less than 20% of all Bitcoin was held by those investors.

What is also important, Diar didn’t count 760,000 bitcoins spread across Coinbase’s addresses. If we count that in, it equals almost 5,4 million BTC.

On the verge of oligopoly?

It may seem like it’s not a big deal. However, it can be very dangerous. If you are a careful observer, you must have noticed that the price of Bitcoin can be manipulated by much smaller amounts of BTC.

The power of Bitcoin is the community. By definition, it should be a digital currency for everybody. That is what makes BTC so appealing. Putting too many coins in too few hands can lead to oligarchy.

Nevertheless, there is the other side of that coin. According to research, Bitcoin whales stabilize the market, not damage it.

We don’t know what will happen. Is it possible that whales will determine the price of Bitcoin? Yes. Can they damage the most popular cryptocurrency? Probably yes, but it is unlikely. Can they increase the value of BTC? Of course. Still, there are many uncertainties. I am only sure of one thing: it will be interesting, regardless of what happens.

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”