The price of bitcoin has not had the easiest performance in 2024 despite a good start to the year. The flagship cryptocurrency has spent most of the last two quarters in consolidation, fluctuating within the $50,000 and $70,000 range.
This uninspiring performance has sparked conversations about the current cycle, with several analysts and experts predicting whether the bull run is still continuing. Among the latest to comment is the CEO of CryptoQuant, who offered an interesting view of the on-chain cycle.
Why do whales make less profit in this cycle?
In a post on Platform x, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju x.com/ki_young_ju/status/1842268130263073137″ target=”_blank”>revealed that bitcoin whales have held on to their assets this cycle. As a result, large investors have set the record for lowest profit taking compared to other cycles if the current bull run ends now.
This on-chain disclosure is based on the Balance Cohort Realized Profit Rate metric, which measures the proportion of coins sold at a profit by an investor class relative to the total coins sold at a given time. It basically evaluates the profitability of different cohorts of bitcoin holders.
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Typically, when the realized profit rate of whales is high, it implies that a sell-off is likely occurring and large investors believe that prices have peaked. On the other hand, a low realized profit ratio often indicates a low level of profit taking, meaning that investors are not cutting their losses or expecting further price gains.
Current on-chain data points to a trend where large holders have made the least amount of profits in any bull cycle. This could mean that bitcoin whales still have faith in bitcoin's long-term potential. Ultimately, this suggests that the current bull run is far from over and there is a possibility of the bitcoin price uptrend resuming.
bitcoin 'Dolphin' Addresses Surge Again: Santiment
In a post on x, Santiment x.com/santimentfeed/status/1842296956854710548″ target=”_blank”>revealed that bitcoin's “Dolphin” cohort, which holds between 0.1 and 10 btc, has been growing steadily in recent months. Analysis reported that this level of investors sold primarily for profits in the first half of the year.
However, addresses with between 0.1 and 10 btc have been increasing since the beginning of July. Specifically, wallets of 0.1 – 1 btc have increased by 25,671 more addresses, while wallets of 1 – 10 btc have increased by about 4,000 addresses.
This indicates that small investors could be returning to the market, which could be positive for the price of bitcoin in the coming months. As of now, the top cryptocurrency is valued at $61.94, reflecting a 1.7% increase over the past day.
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