Bitcoin ‘millionaires’ increased 140% as BTC price crossed $20K

Bitcoin’s old 2017 all-time high is still a key level when it comes to long-term investment, data shows.

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.

*Bitcoin wallets with balance worth $1 million or more chart. Source: Glassnode*

Nearly 1 million “wholecoiners”

As Cointelegraph reported, hodlers’ fortunes have increased dramatically in the first months of 2023.

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.

*Bitcoin wallets with balance of 1 BTC or more chart. Source: Glassnode*

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.