Bitcoin (BTC) experienced tight volatility on Sunday, following a relatively calm weekend. By midday, the leading cryptocurrency was trading at $98,165, nearly unchanged from Saturday, with a modest 0.08% increase over the past 24 hours. Over the past week, the crypto asset saw a steady resurgence of just over 3%, recovering from a dip to $91,547 on the final day of December. Notably, this decline aligned with on-chain data from Glassnode, which indicated that more than $42 billion in Bitcoin profits were realized throughout December. That said, Following the recent dip, Bitcoin’s latest price surge appears to be fueled by renewed whale activity as this cohort returns to accumulating the cryptocurrency. On Friday, crypto analyst Ali Martinez highlighted that over 48,000 Bitcoins, worth approximately $4.5 billion, were withdrawn from exchanges in just one week. Adding to this trend, CryptoQuant analyst Alex Adler observed that daily Bitcoin deposits to exchanges have dropped to levels not seen since 2016, indicating a growing preference among investors to hold Bitcoin in personal wallets. Furthermore, the Netflow-to-Reserve Ratio confirms a consistent outflow of coins from exchanges. Combined, these factors signal a strong accumulation phase, laying the groundwork for potentially more significant price movements in the near future. Elsewhere, analysts like Avocado Onchain have shared insights into the current market dynamics, describing the recent pullback and the relatively slow recovery as part of Bitcoin’s “cooling-off period” within a larger bull cycle. “ After Bitcoin surpassed $108,000, a correction occurred,” Avocado noted. “ However, key on-chain indicators such as the Adjusted Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) and Miner Position Index (MPI) suggest that the market remains resilient. SOPR is trending downward, signaling reduced profits, but historically, a drop below 1 often triggers a rebound.” Avocado further emphasized that miner behavior supports this bullish outlook. The MPI indicates that miners are holding onto their Bitcoin rather than flooding exchanges with sales, a sign of confidence in the asset’s future potential. Additionally, declining network fees and funding rates suggest a cooling phase, not a market peak. However, caution persists among some analysts. “Darkfost,” another analyst from Cryptoquant, highlighted a potential supply shift between long-term holders (LTHs) and short-term holders (STHs). Historically, such dynamics have been linked to market tops. “Currently, the demand from short-term holders is supporting Bitcoin’s price,” Darkfost noted. “But the declining STH Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) suggests that profits are waning, which could hinder an immediate bullish recovery.”
