Bitcoin’s recent market correction that dragged the world’s largest cryptocurrency near the low of $56,500 turned out to be a good opportunity for high-profile investors.

Data shared by CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju revealed that whales have accumulated a whopping 47,000 BTC – worth more than $2.8 billion in current price – over the past 24 hours alone. This shopping spree signals the beginning of “a new era” for the primary cryptocurrency, according to the exec.

Bitcoin whales increasing their holdings may indicate growing confidence in the cryptocurrency’s future trajectory among institutional investors or high-net-worth entities.

The CryptoQuant founder also revealed that the whale wallets in question are mostly custodial ones, including ETFs, but clarified that the recent spike is not ETF-related.

#Bitcoin whales accumulated 47K $BTC in the past 24 hours. We’re entering a new era. pic.twitter.com/SXgzToN8GU

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) May 3, 2024

There appears to be a change of heart as just a week ago, long-term bitcoin whales saw a substantial increase in their unrealized profits, especially as the price remained above $60,000.

Although their profits had risen significantly, these whales hadn’t yet cashed out, indicating they were holding onto their positions.

This aligned with a notable increase in bitcoin exchange inflows, mostly attributed to whales, which subsequently led to a market-wide slump.

Following the latest whale accumulation, however, bitcoin climbed by over 6% to surge above $62,000 on Friday, staging a modest relief rally.

The whale known as “Mr. 100” bought over 4,100 BTC worth over $242 million at around $58,000 on May 2nd, marking the wallet’s first bitcoin purchase since April 19, just before the 2024 halving.

Bitcoin’s recovery tour continues as the cryptocurrency jumped from under $59,000 yesterday to a multi-day peak of over $63,000 earlier today.

Most altcoins have followed suit with impressive gains once again, including the ever-volatile meme coin sector.

BTC Goes After $63K

Bitcoin had a highly adverse trading week as its price dumped hard on a few occasions. It all started positively on Monday morning when BTC pumped to almost $65,000, but the bears took control of the market immediately and pushed it south to $62,000.

The declines were far from over as the asset further slumped to and below $60,000. The correction culminated in a two-month low of $56,500 charted on Wednesday, ahead of the latest US FOMC meeting.

Once that was completed and the Fed said it will not raise the interest rates soon, BTC reacted with a $2,000 pump and dump and returned to its starting position. It started to recover more ground in the following hours and neared $60,000 yesterday, as reported.

It was stopped there at first, but managed to break through that psychological resistance later that day. The bulls kept the pressure on and pushed BTC to a multi-day peak of $63,500. Despite losing some ground since then, bitcoin currently sits at around $63,000.

Its 6% daily increase means that its market cap has risen to $1.240 trillion, while its dominance over the alts stands at 50.5%.

DOGE, SHIB, PEPE on the Rise

The top gainers from the largest altcoins come from the volatile meme coin sector. Dogecoin, the first and largest of the cohort, is up by over 12% and now trades at $0.15. PEPE has followed suit with an 11.7% jump, while SHIB has gained 8% and is above $0.000025. The other highly impressive gainer is STX, which has soared by 14% to $2.4.

Ethereum and Binance Coin have increased by similar percentages of around 3.5%. Consequently, ETH has soared past $3,100, while BNB is at $585.

The rest of the larger-cap alts are also in the green, including TON, BC, AVAX, NEAR, and HBAR. The total crypto market cap has recovered more than $200 billion since the low of Wednesday and is up to $2.460 trillion on CG.

CryptoQuant analysts have found that Bitcoin miners have increased their selling activity in the last month amid slow demand growth for BTC.

According to the latest CryptoQuant weekly report, the decrease in BTC demand is evident in low Bitcoin whale demand, fewer purchases from spot exchange-traded funds in the United States, and the Coinbase premium falling below zero.

Miners Increase Selling Activity

Miners have sent a large amount of BTC to spot exchanges, creating an imbalance in the market. Since the halving was completed on April 19, miners’ revenue has decreased significantly following the reduction of block rewards by 50%.

Presently, mining entities are selling their holdings to cover operational costs; however, if the trend continues and miners’ profitability turns negative, the price of BTC may witness more pressure.

Due to the high miner selling activity, BTC supply is outpacing demand. CryptoQuant head of research Julio Moreno revealed yesterday that the total balance of BTC at over-the-counter (OTC) desks started to increase when the crypto asset peaked at $73,000 in mid-March. OTC supply has remained on the rise since then, hitting its highest level since November 2022, but demand has slowed.

Demand for BTC Slows Down

The monthly growth of BTC demand from permanent holders (investors who purchase BTC and never sell) has plummeted 50% from 200,000 BTC in late March to 96,000 BTC at the time of writing. Analysts noted that accelerating demand growth is needed for prices to bottom and eventually spike.

Demand growth from large investors and Bitcoin whales has also fallen from a peak of 12% in late March to 6% currently. Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. have recently recorded significant outflows and little to no inflows, falling significantly from a mid-March peak of $1 billion.

Additionally, the funding rate in the perpetual futures market has fallen to its lowest level this year, indicating that selling orders are outpacing buy orders, and traders are not willing to pay as much as before to open long positions. Traders are also opening more short positions in anticipation of further price declines.

With BTC hovering around two-month low levels of $60,000, the asset may target $55,000 to $57,000 in the short term. This range is 10% below traders’ current cost basis of $63,000, a level which acts as a support during bull markets.