Bitcoin: Exchange volume rises despite price drop – Why?

• Bitcoin’s combined exchange/inflow volume assessed went past $4 billion (30D SMA).
• Whales and miners helped increase the exchange interaction.

The last few weeks witnessed a dramatic spike in Bitcoin’s [BTC] exchange interaction.

Bitcoin’s movement across exchanges jumps

According to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, Bitcoin’s combined exchange/inflow volume assessed over a 30-day simple moving average (SMA) went past $4 billion as of this writing.

Interestingly, just 183 days in Bitcoin’s trading history have had a bigger exchange flow volume, Glassnode added.

Source: Glassnode

The last time when the deposit and withdrawal volume breached the $4 billion mark, Bitcoin attained its all-time high (ATH) of $69,000 in November 2021.

The last few months also seemed to have applied brakes on the downtrend in Bitcoin’s exchange supply, AMBCrypto analyzed using Glassnode’s data.

Notice how since the beginning of October, the graph started to move sideways. This was the time since Bitcoin embarked on a rally, fueled by optimism over the now-approved spot ETFs.

As of this publication, Bitcoin’s percent supply held on exchanges remained over 12%.

Source: Glassnode

Whales increase participation

Noticeably, in anticipation of spot ETFs, Bitcoin whales also sprung into action. According to AMBCrypto’s analysis of CryptoQuant, whale inflows to exchanges spiked significantly in the last week of December.

In the bull market, the ratio often keeps below 85%. On the other hand, in the bear market, it usually keeps above 85%.

As of this writing, the indicator was comfortably placed at 32%, implying no immediate danger of big sell-offs. 

Source: CryptoQuant

Miners pop in

Another key user cohort that increased interaction with exchanges was the Bitcoin miners.

Miners have been transferring more Bitcoin into exchanges for liquidation since the last week of December and have continued into the new year. Such levels haven’t been observed since July 2023.

The gains that Bitcoin accumulated over the last quarter of 2023 may have most likely prompted miners to cash out.

As is well known, miners require cash to finance their mining expenditures. They wait for a meaningful rise in Bitcoin’s price to sell them off.

Source: CryptoQuant

Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price Prediction 2023-24

At the time of writing, the king coin meandered in the $42,000 zone, having lost 8.86% of its value over the past week.

However, market participants were hopeful that capital inflows following clearance of spot ETFs would eventually drive the prices up.