A big Bitcoin (BTC) whale keeping 68,000 BTC ($523 million) hasn’t moved the funds for over five years. And on-chain data reveals other whales have similarly held onto their BTC for an average of 4.7 years.

While Bitcoin is CoinMarketCap’s top-ranked cryptocurrency. Whales holding on to a digital asset without selling for years don’t protect BTC from a steep downtrend. The price fell to as low as $3,600 on March 12 and at the time, many whales didn’t move their assets.

However, what the data reveals is that many whales are confident holding onto the BTC given the possibility of a major correction to the multi-year support area of $3,000 to $4,000. This paints a long-term positive picture for the cryptocurrency industry and for the optimism of high net worth investors.

What are the whales up to?

The infrastructure that serves the crypto-currency industry has strengthened exponentially since 2015. Growing numbers of trusted custodians are opening up, there is a wider variety of futures markets. And stable banking services are supporting large regional spot markets.

As a result of extreme corrections, both the retail and institutional investors are rapidly accumulating bitcoin. An observational study released by Coinbase found that retail investors acquired the dip immediately after dropping to $3,750 in March.

Data from the Grayscale Q1 2020 study also showed that institutional investors reported a significant rise in Bitcoin demand.

As more investors acquire Bitcoin, the circulating supply of BTC is diminishing, and this may weaken big marketplace downtrends.

Over time, corrective phases could get weaker and faster as Bitcoin reaches its 21 million fixed supply.

In addition, whales and other long-term investors may consider Bitcoin. As the best long-term asset to keep due to the fact that missing funds are not recoverable, the coin supply is capped, and the reduction in half decreases the pace at which new supplies are sold.

Researchers at CoinMetrics said:

“A large Bitcoin whale just graduated to a 5yr HODLer. Last week 68k BTC moved out of the 5yr active supply band. Indicating that the last time they moved on-chain was in April 2015.”

But with a mere 13-day halving, there is still a risk that BTC will see a serious pullback, irrespective of the whales’ unwillingness to sell their holdings. Yet whales’ positive approach decreases the risk of a near-term capitulation-like decline.

Did BTC’s “real price” drop under $3k?

Just 24 hours after Bitcoin fell to $3,600, it rebounded to over $4,000. And finally rose within a month to $7,000.

A dramatic drop from $8,000 to $3,600 attributed to a cascade of liquidations through futures exchanges, mainly BitMEX. Thus, the over-the-counter liquidated traders caused the drop, not the spot-trading whales selling.

HODLers’ campaign adds substance to the argument that in the first place. BTC would never have fallen below $5,000. And investors who bought a dip in the $3,000 to $4,000 range are unlikely to sell anytime soon.