Bitcoin Reclaims $71,000 as Institutional Demand in Custodial Wallets Skyrockets

Institutional demand for Bitcoin through custodial wallets has shown remarkable growth, according to CryptoQuant's founder, Ki Young Ju.

A recent analysis by CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju reveals that institutional investors are driving demand for Bitcoin through custodial wallets at twice the rate of retail investors.

According to Ju's analysis, over the past year, whale wallets with a balance exceeding 1,000 BTC have collectively accumulated approximately 670,000 BTC. This data notably excludes exchange and mining pool holdings.

In comparison, U.S. spot ETFs, which are largely driven by retail investors, have seen an influx of around 278,000 BTC over the same period.

This disparity in institutional demand highlights the growing preference for traditional custodial services to gain exposure to Bitcoin.

The analysis also suggests that the majority of ETF wallets contain less than 1,000 BTC, indicating that the whale wallet data provides a precise representation of custodial wallet activity.

Bitcoin's recent price action reflects this strong institutional interest, with the cryptocurrency showing impressive gains across multiple timeframes.

BTC was up by 3.6% in 24 hours, 5.0% over seven days, and 8.3% over the past month. The price recently touched $71,540 after climbing from a 24-hour low of $68,100.

However, the rally has slowed down, and Bitcoin was trading at around $70,900 at press time.

This price appreciation has majorly benefited major institutional holders. MicroStrategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, has seen its 252,220 BTC holdings reach a value of $17.92 billion.

This means that the company was sitting on an unrealized gain of $7.9 billion, according to Saylortracker data.

The company’s last BTC purchase was on September 20, 2024. MicroStrategy had purchased 7420 BTC for $458.2 million. The single purchase has appreciated by 14.8%, with an unrealized profit of $67.9 million.

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