The count of blockchain wallet addresses holding over 1,000 bitcoins (around USD 43 million) increased on Monday in view of Western countries’ tightened sanctions against Russia’s government and rich elite. According to sources, the figure increased by approximately 5% to a sum of 2,226 on February 28. This is the highest figure after June 20, 2021.
The proportion of addresses that have more than 100 bitcoins stored has also increased, however little, with a 1.3% increase bringing the number to 15,953.
There has been a tiny but significant growth in the number of addresses with bitcoin holdings worth more than USD 1,000, USD 10,000, USD 100,000, USD 1 million, and USD 10 million. However, the biggest wallets in terms of holding values are expanding at the quickest rate. However, it’s unclear what’s causing the surge.
Julian Hosp, CEO of Cake DeFi, tweeted that it may be due to a rebalancing of exchanges or custodial services, which could be due to the group of people with large money suddenly having strong wants to go into bitcoins. Some users on Twitter theorised that an infusion of money from rich Russians worried about the implications of sanctions on their fortunes may be to blame.
These sanctions, imposed after Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, have already had a severe impact on the economy, with the Russian ruble hitting record lows yesterday and locals anticipating a banking collapse.
