FTX Fiasco boosts Bitcoin ownership to new highs: analysts weigh in
The bear market has inspired the little guy to accumulate vast amounts of Bitcoin (BTC). The number of wallets holding 1 BTC or more recently hit new highs while those with 10 BTC or less are setting accumulation records.
However, to what extent are these newly minted “wholecoiners” taking custody of their private keys? Has the recent spate of insolvency among centralized exchanges (CEX) encouraged Bitcoin enthusiasts to move their Bitcoin into cold storage, removed from third party risk?
For Checkmate, lead analyst at Glassnode, the data would point to this result. Checkmate told Cointelegraph, “Overall looks like, at least a short-term, movement towards self-custody. Partly out of concern for CEX solvency.”
He also shared that withdrawals from exchanges have made new records, as users have taken thousands of Bitcoin from exchanges. The spike is shown in red on the graph.
Customers withdrawing Bitcoin from exchanges has impacted exchange supply. The number of Bitcoin available on exchanges has “fallen to its lowest % of supply (11.99%) since Dec 2017. This means pretty much every coin that flowed in over the last 12 months, has flowed out,” Checkmate observed.
Plus, according to Glassnode data, withdrawals from exchanges accounted “for ~30% of all transactions in recent weeks.” The data would suggest an overall shift to self-custody: Bitcoin is being sent to hot or cold wallets.
When Bitcoin investors "withdraw" from exchanges, it can be to an offline hardware wallet, sometimes called cold storage, or an online wallet (hot). Hardware wallets or signing devices are tools that manage a user’s cryptocurrency wallet and private keys. Popular hardware wallets include Ledger, Trezor and ColdCard; hot wallets include Blue Wallet
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