Bitcoin’s pre-halving retracement may have already come to an end, thanks to a significant accumulation of the cryptocurrency. On March 25, Santiment, a blockchain analytics firm, reported that Bitcoin surprised traders with a rebound as key stakeholders accumulated a large amount of BTC over the weekend. These stakeholders, known as “sharks” and “whales,” amassed 51,959 BTC on March 24, worth around $3.4 billion at the time. This equates to 0.263% of the total available supply being accumulated in just one day. With the Bitcoin halving approaching in three weeks, it is expected that these wallets will continue to grow, which could have a positive impact on the overall market caps of cryptocurrencies.
Crypto analysts were initially concerned about a significant pre-halving retracement, assuming that history would repeat itself as it had in previous market cycles. However, Bitcoin only experienced a 17% decline from its all-time high of $73,738 on March 14, dipping to $61,494 on March 20, according to CoinGecko. Technical analyst ‘Rekt Capital’ noted that if this is indeed the end of the pre-halving retracement, Bitcoin will have almost matched the retracement seen in 2020.
Market volatility and last week’s dip were also analyzed by crypto research firm Kaiko, which revealed that selling intensified after the U.S. market closed. The firm concluded that liquidity in the cryptocurrency market is fragmented across exchanges and trading pairs.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $70,252, up 5.2% for the day, after reaching an intraday high of $71,000 on March 25.