Bitcoin Outflows Reach New Highs: $240M Driven by Whales

• Bitcoin addresses take an extreme nose dive
• BRC-20 tokens approach $1B market cap
• Bitcoin fees surpass block reward for miners

Bitcoin Addresses Take an Extreme Nose Dive

The latest data from Glassnode showed that May 5 witnessed the sixth biggest outflow of Bitcoin from exchanges since the start of 2021. Around $240 million worth of Bitcoin was driven primarily by large whales, as observed from the accumulation trend score by cohort which denotes that whales with over 10,000 Bitcoin continue to accumulate and have been doing so for more than a month. On the other hand, all other cohorts are in a state of distribution.

BRC-20 Tokens Approach $1 Billion Market Cap

As per CoinMarketCap, BRC-20 tokens have seen their market capitalization surge close to $1 billion recently. This can be attributed to the increasing popularity and adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi) projects on Ethereum’s blockchain network due to their higher liquidity and faster transactions as compared to traditional finance products. The rise in demand for DeFi products has also caused an increase in ETH prices as well.

The “Flippening”: Bitcoin Fees Surpass Block Reward for Miners

An unprecedented event occurred on Friday when transaction fees paid to miners surpassed the block rewards they received for successfully mining blocks on the network. According to data from BitInfoCharts, Bitcoin miners earned almost $500,000 more in transaction fees than what they received as block rewards on May 7th alone. This event has been nicknamed “the flippening” by some crypto enthusiasts and signals a shift in how miners make money off of their work.

Biggest Outflow of Bitcoin From Exchanges YTD

Friday saw the sixth biggest outflow of Bitcoins from exchanges Year To Date (YTD). The outflow is supported by institutional investors who are continuing to scoop up bitcoins further driving exchange outflows. With demand high and supply low, markets have started pricing in a 10% probability of a 25 basis points rate hike due to jobs data that was released recently.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this week witnessed several developments within the cryptocurrency space with bitcoin addresses taking an extreme nose dive while BRC-20 tokens approached a $1 billion market cap before transaction fees surpassed block rewards for miners leading to the historic “flippening” event occurring on Friday followed by one of the biggest outflows yet this year from exchanges driven mainly by institutional investors looking towards accumulating more bitcoins despite its high price tags today.