Bitcoin (BTC) wallets holding more than 1,000 Bitcoin (BTC), equivalent to $43 million, have increased due to the Western states’ ramping up of sanctions against Russia’s elite and government.
Per data recorded by analytics website Coin Metrics, the number grew at a rate of 5% to 2,226 on Monday. June 2021 was the last time this number of Bitcoin (BTC) whales was recorded.
According to Coin Metrics, there has been an increase in addresses storing over 100 Bitcoin (BTC) to a total number of 15,953 by 1.3%.
While there has been an incremental increase in wallets holding Bitcoin (BTC) equivalent to $1k, $10k, $100k, $1 million, and $10 million. Nonetheless, the wallets holding the biggest number of Bitcoin (BTC) grew faster than the others.
While there is no straight answer as to why this is happening, the CEO of Cake DeFi, Julian Hosp posited that it might be due to a repositioning of exchanges or custodial services, which he characterized as a non-event, or it could be a hint that a set of people with significant resources unexpectedly have great ambitions in getting into Bitcoin (BTC).
Wow! About 150 new #bitcoin addresses with > 1,000 BTC on them. This either means some rebalancing of exchanges or custodial services (non-event) or a group of people with deep pockets suddenly have strong interests to get into #bitcoin (big event!) Which one is it gonna be? pic.twitter.com/JGBN7OQgxT
— Dr. Julian Hosp (@julianhosp) March 1, 2022
Some users on Twitter hypothesized that the problem could be caused by an infusion of cash from elite Russians anxious about the effect of sanctions on their wealth.
Sanctions imposed when Russia occupied Ukraine seven days ago have certainly had a significant impact on the economy, with the rouble touching new lows yesterday and locals fearing a bank run.
Nevertheless, the Bitcoin (BTC) price increased by 15%, momentarily reaching $44,000 overnight.