Number of People Holding Lots of Bitcoin Surges in Rare 'Whale-Spawning Season'
The number of entities holding at least 1,000 bitcoin rose to a new record high on Wednesday.

In this article
Large investors continue to accumulate bitcoin, possibly putting upward pressure on the cryptocurrency's price.
The number of whale entities – clusters of crypto wallet addresses held by a single network participant holding at least 1,000 bitcoin – rose to a new record high of 1,994 on Wednesday. The previous peak of 1,969 reached in 2016 was surpassed on Dec. 18, according to data source Glassnode.
The metric has increased by over 16% this year and 7.3% this quarter alone. Bitcoin's price has rallied by over 300% in 2020 and 160% in the October-December period. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency is changing hands at over $28,800 per bitcoin, after reaching an all-time high of $29,280 on Wednesday, as per CoinDesk 20 data.
See also: Bitcoin Hits $29K for First Time Ever, Raising HODLer Hopes for $30K by New Year’s
"We have just entered a rare whale-spawning season, with ultra-high net worth and institutions recognizing the last call to build significant stores of bitcoin," Jehan Chu, co-founder and managing partner at Hong Kong-based trading firm Kenetic Capital, told CoinDesk. "The final land grab has started, and by this time next year accumulating [over] 1,000 bitcoin will be nearly impossible for most people."

The steep rise in the whale entity population validates the popular narrative that increased participation by large investors has fueled bitcoin's recent rally.
According to Sumit Gupta, CEO and co-founder of CoinDCX, the data shows the cryptocurrency is going through a shift from being a speculative asset to a macro investment asset, and that switch is mainly being driven by the increasing acceptance from global institutions as well as investors from around the world.
JPMorgan analysts say the recent bitcoin purchases by insurance firm MassMutual indicate growing mainstream adoption and could have a bearing on gold in the long run.
Больше для вас
Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

Что нужно знать:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Japan’s Higher Rates Puts Bitcoin in the Crosshairs of a Yen Carry Unwind

A stronger yen typically coincides with de-risking across macro portfolios, and that dynamic could tighten liquidity conditions that recently helped bitcoin rebound from November’s lows.
What to know:
- The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates to 0.75% at its December meeting, the highest since 1995, affecting global markets including cryptocurrencies.
- A stronger yen could lead to de-risking in macro portfolios, impacting liquidity conditions that have supported bitcoin's recent recovery.
- Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated a high probability of a rate hike, with officials prepared for further tightening if their economic outlook supports it.










