Despite Bitcoin's slow recovery from the $52k to $45k plunge earlier in the month, analytic firm Glassnode recorded the transfer of $1.2 billion of bitcoin off major exchanges.

Bitcoin being taken off exchanges is a clear sign that the owner is storing it instead of keeping it on an exchange where they can easily sell it.

This confirms that bitcoin accumulation continued as the price fell.

How Many Are Truly HODLing? Here's the numbers...

Long-term holders (LTH) are those who have owned their BTC for more than 155 days, they purchased it before mid-April, while short-term holders ( STH ) bought after the historical high on April 14.

In total, short term holders have amassed 16.8% of bitcoin's supply in the last five months, or about 3.16 million bitcoins.

While long term holders now own 79.5% of bitcoin's supply.

Signs Of What's To Come...

In the graph below, you can see two things: long term holders are at a historical high, and the accumulation of Bitcoin off-exchanges creates a supply shortage that typically triggers a price increase.

"Accumulation highs precede a price high" the report states.

The amount of Bitcoin that moves from short to long term holders per month averages 421,000. This rate is expected to continue into the final quarter of the year, when true scarcity could drive bitcoin to record-breaking prices.

If FOMO kicks in, it all may happen at a record-breaking speed as well.

So - be ready.

For some analysts, it was plausible to expect a correction after the new all-time high, and it did indeed occur last Monday.

If you've been in the crypto market for awhile, you likely slept like a baby, knowing it was business as usual. Occasionally, people like taking some of their profits, and the smart ones know they'll be back, and at a discount.

But there's a lot of new investors in crypto, now more than ever. The price of Bitcoin fell to $45,000 - a drop from $58,000 in a span of 3 days.

This can understandably scare some people off, and many were wondering if the new investors would be able to resist panic selling and selling everything.  Like many would if stocks took a similar dip. 

However, One Announcement After Another Kept Coming - Showing That The Dip Didn't Slow Things Down At All...

Square acquired an additional 3,380 BTC for $ 170 million, while MicroStrategy made its largest investment so far in bitcoin, at acquire almost 20,000 BTC for $ 1 billion.

The once anti-crypto JPMorgan now recommends investing in bitcoin. And in another sign of rapprochement between the world of cryptocurrencies and the regulatory environment.

SynBiotic SE's announcement of its investment in bitcoin as a hedge against inflation would reveal that interest in the first currency as a safe haven asset could extend to a wide segment of SMEs companies.

Institutional investment firm Stone Ridge, which had already invested $100 million in Bitcoin last October, filed a prospectus with the SEC to list bitcoin as an asset in its diversified investment fund.

I'll wrap this up with one that goes the other way - a company from the crypto world wanting to get in to Wall Street - Coinbase applied to the SEC to be listed on the stock market. It appears they'll be welcomed with open arms. 

So, in short - the bull market continues, picking up right where we left off. 
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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

Everyone agrees that today's bitcoin price movement is thanks to Tesla, who announced a $ 1.5 billion purchase in BTC. 

We have also now confirmed that the purchase did indeed take place mid January of this year, but did not go public until today.

Just a few hours after the news was released, the price of bitcoin rose from $ 39,000 to over $ 44,000.

$50,000+ Bitcoin On The Horizon?

Optimistic expectations for this year seem to be found everywhere. According to various analysts in the Bitcoin and financial world, there has already been a profit taking period. 

Because people filled their need to take some profits after the previous all-time high last month - they're now mentally prepared to accumulate, and HODL.

Averaging ​the predictions of my 3 favorite analysts after todays news, the new short-term price target would be $56,000.

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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk

If you're like me you still cringe a little when you read a headline like this, I think I'm still traumatized by Tom Lee, Mike Novagratz, and John McAfee's 2017 appearances on CNBC where they seemingly pulled (ridiculously high) numbers out of a hat and read them on-air as their 'expert prediction' - they repeated this weekly for almost an entire year... then the entire market crashed.

So still take this with a grain of salt - but so far, analyst Willy Woo has correctly predicted the bull run we're in right now, and if his predictions remain true for the next year all Bitcoin owners are going to be very happy.

In the first week of October he stated "In my last update the latest impulse was still forming with an expectation that it would be a bullish buying impulse based on early signs of hidden accumulation being seen on exchanges. This has correctly played out.

We are now coasting upwards with no new changes in the short term on-chain structure. I remain bullish and am awaiting any new changes.

Keen observers will notice there is a bullish supporting trend-line in coin movements forming, which I’ll highlight below." Woo also stated "The next 3 months: Coin supply has dried up while demand dominates."

This was in October - so that 3rd month is right now, and his description of today's market is accurate.

Looking Ahead: Bitcoin at $200,000 by The Beginning Of 2022...

Today's market is strong and could act as the solid launching pad we need to take us to the moon.

The current average price a Bitcoin holder paid is $7,456, which is the average of the different lots of BTC, valued at the price they had the last time they were moved "you're all geniuses" he says, pointing out that the average investor has already doubled their investment.

One Big Reason: A 19% Decline In Bitcoin Being Held On Exchanges...

Investors are taking their Bitcoin off of the exchanges, which means they don't plan on selling anytime soon.

So this really is just the simple law of supply and demand, the supply is getting lower as demand rises, and that always makes prices rise.

This is why he says he's never had bullish sentiment towards bitcoin like today. "It has never been so bullish for 2021. This re-accumulation phase coincides with the decline in BTC's spot inventory, about twice as long and deep as in the last cycle."

The Icing On The Cake:

Woo's BTC price model (if the final numbers and timing are correct) has Bitcoin breaking $80,000 in the next 3 months! 

He also calls the prediction we'll be seeing $200,000 trades for 1 BTC on block explorers soon 'conservative' saying "$300,000 is not out of the question".   

Read Woo's full thread on Twitter here.

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Author: Ross Davis 
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM
San Francisco Newsroom / Breaking Crypto News