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On-chain analytics firm Santiment has observed that a whale address has received $1 billion worth of Bitcoin in the largest BTC transaction of 2023.
It highlights the fact that this transaction happened as Bitcoin was nearing the $25,000 mark following its recovery on March 16.
🐳 A $1B #Bitcoin transaction has been sent to 3M219KR5vEneNb47ewrPfWyb5jQ2DjxRP6. This is the largest $BTC on-chain transaction of the year. The address held a high of 143,310 $BTC in October, was emptied out in November, and is now back to 40,141 $BTC. https://t.co/l9K3Qu8J2M pic.twitter.com/1yVJpKqjPK
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) March 16, 2023
The rise extended further on March 17 as Bitcoin regained the $26,000 mark, reaching intraday highs of $26,286. At the time of publication, Bitcoin was up 5.73% in the last 24 hours to $26,073.
According to Santiment, "a $1 billion Bitcoin transaction has been sent to 3M219KR5vEneNb47ewrPfWyb5jQ2DjxRP6. This is the largest BTC on-chain transaction of the year. The address held a high of 143,310 BTC in October, was emptied out in November, and is now back at 40,141 BTC."
A chart posted by Santiment indicates that 40,157 BTC were sent to a whale address that holds more than 1 BTC for the first time since November 2022.
Bitcoin plunged to lows of $15,512 in November 2022 following the collapse of FTX — once a $32 billion crypto exchange, which impacted investor confidence in cryptocurrencies.
Tomiwabold OlajideFollowing a period of range trading, Bitcoin started a rebound in January 2023 before the rally somewhat paused in February.
A recovery started from lows of $19,568 on March 10. The lead cryptocurrency rose past $26,000 on March 14, reaching highs last seen in June 2022. The current move has shifted the focus to the next technical hurdle above $28,000.
Bitcoin's recovery to $26K also coincides with significant network growth.
Santiment notes that "Bitcoin's rate of network growth is prospering right now, even with the unpredictable volatility in crypto markets right now."
It further stated in a tweet, "In the past 2 months, the total amount of BTC addresses has grown by 1.71 million, a 3.95% increase in a relatively short period."
Dan Burgin
Alex Dovbnya
Vladislav Sopov