The crypto markets are testing investor patience this year as Bitcoin struggles to register a bullish rally. The leading cryptocurrency has not appreciated in the past nine months and has fallen in value month-on-month. Investors are exploring different strategies to manage their finances in the ongoing bear markets and one of them is ‘hodl’. Data shows that most Bitcoin holders have adopted the ‘hodl’ culture and will stick with their investments for the long term.
Also read: This is how many times Bitcoin has been declared ‘dead’ since its creation
Dates from Galassnode shows that the amount of Bitcoin ‘HODLed’ reached its highest point in 5 years on Friday. A total of nearly 7.5 million Bitcoins are held in various wallets worth about a whopping $143.74 billion.
A total of 7,495,059,588 BTC has been ‘HODLed’ since 2017. You can see more details about the development here.
“Bitcoin BTC. The number of HODLed of Lost Coins just reached a 5-year high of 7,495,059,588 BTC. Previous 5-year high of 7,494,986,961 BTC was observed on October 19, 2020,” Glassnode tweeted.
It is also worth noting that the 7.5 million Bitcoins contain a mix of ‘HODLed’ and lost coins. Many times, investors would have lost their seed phrases and be able to regain their BTC holdings.
Also read: Crypto Tycoon Doubles on Bitcoin to $11K ‘Crash’ Predictions
Bitcoin: Bull or Bear Friendly?
With Bitcoin hitting $18,500 levels multiple times, several analysts have predicted that today is the right time to buy BTC. However, crypto analyst Jim Wycoff told: Kitco News warning investors not to buy BTC at current levels.
He mentioned that the markets are still the “bear friend” as a bull run in 2022 is unlikely to be possible. Wycoff predicted that the bears have a technical advantage as Bitcoin is unable to sustain its $19,000 resistance levels. BTC is expected to undergo further correction and the current $19,000 levels could be seen as a high in the coming months.
Also read: Bitcoin Isn’t Looking So Good Right Now: Analyst
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $18,993 and was down 0.53% in 24-hour trading. BTC is also down 72.5% from its all-time high of $69,044, which it reached in November last year.