The year 2024 will be one for the history books for the cryptocurrency industry and, in particular, for Bitcoin. After kicking off the year with the approval of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), it didn’t take long before the leading cryptocurrency hit a new all-time high thanks to new institutional capital.
This is pretty much what has happened to Bitcoin over the past 12 months, as the market leader has received the most attention from institutional players and large corporations. Blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant recently released a report highlighting the impact of large investors on the world’s largest cryptocurrency this year.
Is 2024 the best year in terms of institutional adoption of Bitcoin?
In its latest weekly report, blockchain intelligence platform CryptoQuant explained that 2024 was a defining year for institutional adoption of Bitcoin, driven by the launch of spot ETFs in January. By the end of the year, BTC funds already held more coins (over 1.1 million) than any entity (including anonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto).
ETFs have allowed institutional and retail investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without owning them directly. At the same time, spot exchange-traded funds have helped spread a steady influx of capital into the flagship cryptocurrency over the past 11 months.
According to data from CryptoQuant, BTC has seen an impressive increase in realized capitalization from $430 billion to an all-time high of $730 billion so far in 2024. One of the main contributors to this level of growth is MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder. of Bitcoin so far this year.
Source: CryptoQuant
Data from CryptoQuant reveals that MicroStrategy has worked to strengthen its position as the largest BTC holding company by steadily filling its bags throughout the year. The business intelligence company started the year with a stake of 189,000 BTC, which has now increased by 112% to 402,000 coins.
Additionally, on-chain data shows that large Bitcoin investors have increased their holdings by a net 275,000 coins so far in 2024, reaching an all-time high of 16.4 million BTC. These figures highlight the growing institutional demand and growing influence of crypto and Bitcoin in traditional finance, particularly over the past year.
Bitcoin Price Overview
Due to increasing adoption by institutions, the price of BTC has seen exponential growth in 2024, recently reaching a six-figure valuation. At the time of writing, the leading cryptocurrency is valued at just over $100,000, reflecting an increase of almost 5% over the past 24 hours. According to CoinGecko data, BTC remains the largest cryptocurrency in the digital asset sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.99 trillion.
The price of BTC on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT on the TradingView
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView
