'Shrimp' and 'Crab' Bitcoin Balances Hit Record Highs Amid FTX Collapse

So-called Bitcoin (BTC) shrimps, a category of addresses holding less than 1 BTC, have added 96,200 BTC to their collective stashes since FTX exchange's collapse earlier this month.

According to the analysts at Glassnode, this cohort now holds over 1.21 million BTC, which is equivalent to 6.3% of the world’s flagship cryptocurrency's circulating supply.

Another category of smaller Bitcoin holders that took an opportunity to buy this month’s dip is “crabs," a demographic holding between 1 BTC and 10 BTC.

This category of investor added a total of 191,600 BTC over the past 30 days, per the on-chain data provider.

For both shrimps and crabs, November purchases also marked all-time-high increases in balances, with the latter eclipsing the July 2022 peak of 126,000 BTC.

Bitcoin traded above $21,000 at the beginning of November, however, plunged below $16,000—its lowest level in two years—last Monday as the crypto contagion triggered by the implosion of the FTX exchange spread fast across the space, affecting high-profile firms, such as Genesis Global, Gemini, and BlockFi.

The leading cryptocurrency is changing hands at $16,240 by press time, a decrease of 2% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

Whales dumping Bitcoin holdings

On the other hand, Bitcoin whales—those who carry over 1,000 BTC—are the primary category that has been partly offloading their Bitcoin holdings, sending roughly 6,500 BTC to crypto exchanges over the last 30 days.

While this may signal their readiness to sell, this amount is still dwarfed by the total Bitcoin whale holdings of 6.3 million BTC, per Glassnode.

It should also be noted that a significant number of Bitcoin investors have opted for self-custody as the trust in centralized exchanges recently fell to new historic lows.

As reported by Santiment on Saturday, the Bitcoin supply at exchanges has dropped to just 6.95%—levels not seen since 2018.