Bitcoin Hits Record $106.5K As Whale Wallets Grow Amid Trump’s Comments

Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high of $106.5 thousand, marking a historic moment in its 16-year run. As the world’s leading cryptocurrency gained almost 200% this year, there was one key factor that contributed to this price increase.

The latest data suggests a remarkable increase in whale portfolio activity that has pushed it to a new milestone.

Bitcoin registry finds support from whales

Since the bull rally began on October 10, the number of addresses with at least 100 BTC has increased from 16,062 to 17,644, a net gain of 1,582 wallets, reflecting a substantial increase of 9.9% in just nine weeks .

According to Santiment analysis on Monday, this surge in whale hoarding has coincided with a 77% rise in the price of Bitcoin, highlighting the strong correlation between growing investor confidence among major holders and bullish momentum of the asset

BTC’s latest rally followed comments by President-elect Donald Trump indicating his intention to form a strategic US Bitcoin reserve similar to the country’s oil reserve.

The announcement ignited excitement among cryptocurrency bulls, fueling the record rally. Many industry observers suggest that Bitcoin has entered “Santa Claus mode,” with increased buying as investors fear missing out and seek to allocate more funds to the asset class.

Bitcoin Santa Rally

Since the November 5 election, where Trump and numerous pro-crypto candidates won, Bitcoin has gained more than 50%.

December is historically considered a bullish month for the asset, but the “Santa Claus Rally,” defined as gains over the last five trading days of the year and the first two days of January, has shown a mixed performance in the crypto market. Between 2014 and 2023, Bitcoin recovered seven times before Christmas and five times after, recording returns of 0.20% to 13.19% before Christmas and 0.33% to 10.86% after Christmas .

However, the pattern remains inconsistent; for example, in 2017, Bitcoin fell 21.30% before Christmas during the post-ICO market correction. Even so, December as a whole has seen an average return of 9.48%, according to CoinGecko’s findings.

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