- Bitcoin price plummeting after FTX’s implosion in November provided shrimps – people with less than 1 BTC an opportunity to add to their balances at low prices.
- According to new on-chain data tracking shrimp holdings, the cohort bought 96.2k more BTC in the 30 days after FTX collapsed.
- The cohort’s holdings saw an all-time balance increase in the month and currently hold roughly 6.3% of bitcoin supply at 1.21 million.
Despite the continued selling across the crypto market over the past month, Bitcoin ‘shrimps’ – wallets holding less than one BTC – have added massively to their overall balances since the FTX’s implosion.
According to the latest data compiled by crypto exchange Bitfinex, investors have sold Bitcoin at a loss over the past 30 days as contagion fears and other macro factors combined to sink sentiment. But amid the widespread selling, there has been a significant accumulation drive from both shrimps and ‘crabs’ – wallets with up to 10 bitcoin.
Analysis of the on-chain balances of these two cohorts suggest that a portion of small retail investors have indeed been unfazed by the negative sentiment and jitters around FTX. Simply, wallets with less than 10 BTC have used the downturn in prices to buy Bitcoin.
Shrimps added 96.2k BTC since early November
As some investors panic-sold after the shocking news of FTX’s collapse, a few people took the opportunity to buy low. In November, Bitcoin price fell sharply below $20,000 and went all the way to levels beneath $16,000.
Weak hands sold as hodlers took advantage. And according to the Bitfinex report, its not just whales who might have seized on the prevailing sell-off.
Shrimps buying the dip managed to add more than 96,000 bitcoins to their wallet balances. In fact, data puts it down to 96.2k BTC that shrimps bought since FTX collapsed, with the purchases accounting for an all-time high increase in the cohort’s wallet balances.
According to the statistic, shrimps now hold more than 1.21 million bitcoins to account for roughly 6.3% of the benchmark cryptocurrency’s circulating supply.
As of writing, on-chain data sows the circulating supply of Bitcoin is 19.23 million coins, while addresses richer than $1 stand at nearly 34 million.
Wallets with less than 10 BTC also buy the dip
Crab, as noted above, are wallets that hold less than 10 bitcoins. Data by Glassnode shows that this cohort bought 191.6k BTC in the 30 days after FTX’s collapse. The group’ net position change during this period saw total balance also swell at an all-time high increase, with the month higher than in July 2022 when crabs bought 126k BTC following the May/June turmoil.
So what does this statistics reveal? According to the report, its likely retail investors are breaking from past behaviour of heavily selling during bear cycles.
Investor bullishness on Bitcoin is thus a mark of the new wave of resilience even as the market stares at potentially more pain with Bitcoin price poised near $17,000.
