The world’s largest cryptocurrency bitcoin (BTC) continues to hit fresh all-time highs following the US election, with the BTC/USD first soaring past $80,000 for the first time ever, only to then comfortably claim $81,000 and now $82,000.
Trading volumes, i.e. the nominal amount of bitcoin being bought and sold on the crypto exchanges, shot through the roof.
Yet confirmed transactions, i.e. the degree to which bitcoin is being used for its original intended purpose of transferring money, remain largely static, as does the unique address count.
One way to read these on-chain analytics is that more people aren’t necessarily buying bitcoin, but more ‘whales’ are.
Whales are the ultra-nigh-net-worth individuals of the bitcoin world; the bag holders who accrue substantial sums of the cryptocurrency and ‘HODL’ (crypto parlance meaning to hold onto dear life).
Analysing exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows shows that the world’s largest asset managers, such as Blackrock (NYSE:BLK), Fidelity, and VanEck, are amassing an ever-increasing share of bitcoin’s circulating supply.
On 7 November alone, just 10 of these fund managers bought nearly $1.4 billion worth of bitcoin, marking a new one-day record.
This small pool of fund managers now holds nearly $26 billion worth of bitcoin, or around 1.5% of the total supply.
The escalating buying appetite from these predominantly US-based wealth titans is nothing short of a badge of approval for incoming Republican president Doland Trump, who more than any other predecessor attempted (and succeeded) to court the crypto vote.
Of course, it’s not just bitcoin on the ascent- popular altcoins like Cardano (ADA), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) have also shot up since the election.
Then there’s the case of Dogecoin (DOGE), which has shot up over 80% in a week, making the altcoin the sixth-largest cryptocurrency with a $43 billion market capitalisation.
DOGE has the star power to end all star powers behind it. The shiba inu-themed meme coin is a personal favourite of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man turned Trump surrogate.
There is not a lot of utility behind DOGE apart from HODLing and hoping it goes up in value, but that hardly makes it unique in the crypto space, where speculation, FOMO and self-labelled degeneracy command substantial influence on price action.
Clouds pass
Which begs the question- what are these crypto enthusiasts speculating will happen?
Less regulation, more pressure to remove arch-crypto sceptic Gary Gensler from his influential role as the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), are the two developments that come to mi nd.
“On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler,” Trump decreed during his presidential campaign.
In a July rally in Kentucky, he vowed to create a “bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council” to make rules “written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry”.
“If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted and made in the USA,” he added.
If Gensler does leave the post, Trump will undoubtedly appoint a pro-crypto chair in his place, thus removing a shadowy cloud that has haunted the crypto industry in the US for years.
Whether or not Trump makes good on his pro-crypto promises remains to be seen.
What is certain is that euphoria has gripped the bitcoin and the wider crypto market as a whole.
The BTC/USD pair is currently swapping for $82,224.