Privacy transactions on the Bitcoin network have skyrocketed over the past two years.
Whales are actively using methods like CoinJoin to discreetly accumulate large amounts of Bitcoin. CryptoQuant’s Ki Young Ju highlighted this trend in a tweet. According to the update, the annual average number of CoinJoin transactions has tripled since 2022.
Massive increase in Bitcoin CoinJoin transactions
CoinJoin transactions are a method of improving anonymity by combining multiple Bitcoin transactions. They have become a preferred tool for large investors, as evidenced by CoinJoin transactions under 5,000 being the norm as of December 2022.
However, by December 2023, CoinJoin transactions increased to almost 40,000. The trend continued into 2024, with the average number of transactions remaining around 20,000. This development suggests that privacy is becoming increasingly important as institutional and retail investors move large amounts of BTC.
Whales are discreetly accumulating BTC
The surge in privacy transactions coincides with significant whale activity in 2024. In particular, Young Ju highlighted that 1.55 million BTC flowed into accumulation addresses this year. These addresses are primarily associated with companies such as exchange traded funds (ETFs), firms such as MicroStrategy and depository wallets.
In fact, US Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated over 1.1 million BTC since January, surpassing Satoshi Nakamoto’s holdings. At the same time, MicroStrategy has significantly increased its holdings and now owns over 444,000 BTC.
While some of this accumulation is driven by institutional actors, a significant portion remains in the…
