Cointelegraph By William Suberg
Bitcoin (BTC) millionaires are made when the BTC price crosses $20,000, data reveals.
According to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, there are currently over 67,000 BTC wallets worth $1 million or more.
$20,000 makes 50-BTC hodlers happy
Bitcoin is famous for its relationship with the $20,000 price tag.
Prominent since becoming the all-time high of Bitcoin’s previous halving cycle, $20,000 is more than just a technical and psychological line in the sand.
As Glassnode now shows, when BTC/USD crosses that price point, a large number of hodlers either gain or lose U.S. dollar millionaire status.
In late 2022, for example, when Bitcoin fell below $20,000 in the wake of the FTX scandal, “millionaire” wallet numbers plummeted like a stone overnight.
Fast forward to January this year and the opposite can be observed — as soon as BTC/USD reclaimed the $20,000 mark, those wallets reappeared en masse.
On Jan. 13, with BTC/USD at just under $20,000, there were around 27,000 wallets with a balance worth $1 million or more.
On Jan. 14, by contrast, that wallet cohort had increased to 65,000, while price traded just $1,000 higher. Many wallets, it appears, contain exactly 50 BTC.
For reference, at the time of Bitcoin’s most recent all-time high in November 2021, wallets worth $1 million or more totaled almost 113,000.
Nearly 1 million “wholecoiners”
As Cointelegraph reported, hodlers’ fortunes have increased dramatically in the first months of 2023.
Related: Bitcoin exchanges now own 16% less BTC than the oldest hodlers
It is not only millionaires who have regained crucial financial buoyancy lost during the 2022 bear market — both long-term and short-term holders are knuckling down and even refusing to cash out.
The number of so-called “wholecoiners” — wallets with a balance of at least 1 BTC — meanwhile continues to track towards the 1 million mark for the first time in Bitcoin’s history.
As of Feb. 28, there are 982,726 such wallets, Glassnode shows.
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