$100,000 BTC Transactions Skyrocket 100% in Days, What's Behind?

Bitcoin large transactions have exploded in recent days, with the number of BTC transactions over $100,000 doubling in the past week, according to a recent tweet published by crypto analyst Ali.

Ali wrote , "The number of Bitcoin BTC transactions over $100,000 has doubled in the past week, rising from 15,620 to 32,320," alongside a screenshot of IntoTheBlock's number of large transactions metric for Bitcoin. The surge in Bitcoin's large transactions comes amid increasing optimism in the broader crypto market.

Large transactions often point to activity from large holders referred to as whales or institutional players rather than retail traders. Institutions may be increasing their exposure to Bitcoin given the recent positive developments in the crypto space.

Along these lines, Santiment reported an increase in Bitcoin large holder addresses this week, with those holding 100 to 1,000 BTC reaching an all-time high of 15,777 such wallets. "This rise in key stakeholder confidence is yet another promising sign for a bullish 2025," according to Santiment.

Bitcoin's epic week

Bitcoin reached a record high of $109,358 on Monday and was trading near $104,734 at press time. It has increased by more than 50% thus far in January.

On Thursday, an executive order was issued to promote digital asset adoption in the United States. Later on Thursday, the SEC issued a historic announcement, removing an accounting rule that made institutional crypto adoption more difficult by requiring banks to recognize Bitcoin and other tokens as liabilities on their balance sheets.

The rule, known as SAB 121, was implemented in 2022 and imposed rigorous capital requirements for digital assets. It also increased the financial and regulatory risks associated with providing cryptocurrency custody services, as well as banking institutions' operational costs.

The decision was celebrated by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who was appointed on Tuesday to chair a new "crypto task force" within the agency. Gary Gensler had resigned as SEC chairman just a few days before.

This week, Bitcoin pioneer and Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht was granted a full pardon. He had been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole since 2015.