Data Shows Exceptional Increase In The Number Of Bitcoin Wallets Containing 1K Above BTC In One Day

There is a sudden change in the number of large Bitcoin addresses.

On Monday, February 28, the number of bitcoin addresses with balances over 1,000 BTC ($43.63 million) increased by more than 6%, reaching 2,226. According to data from the Glass node, the number has not reached this level since March 2021.

On the same day, the number of bitcoin addresses with a balance of more than 100 BTC  also increased by 1.3%, to 15,929.

It is unknown what is behind the rise in the number of bitcoin whales. The head of Cake DeFi, Julian Hosp, suggested that the situation may indicate a sudden interest in cryptocurrency from a group of wealthy individuals.

“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 going to be?”

Other users have suggested that the rapid growth in the number of bitcoin whales is due to the attempts of the Russian elites to withdraw their assets in circumvention of the sanctions.

Earlier, the US, EU, UK, and Canada announced their readiness to disconnect some Russian banks from SWIFT and also limited the ability of the Bank of Russia to conduct operations to support the ruble. The measures aim to isolate the Russian Federation from the international financial systems.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to limit the withdrawal of foreign currency from March 1.

According to Bloomberg, the administration of US President Joe Biden asked cryptocurrency exchanges to help prevent the use of digital currencies to circumvent sanctions by Russian individuals and organizations.