With bitcoin still strong in 2022, a growing number of long-term investors hold significant holdings in the cryptocurrency and are optimistic that its recent slump was only temporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Digital currency brokerage Genesis trading said the amount of bitcoin held in digital wallets with no outflows for more than five months is on the rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amount of bitcoin in “illiquid” wallets – which spend less than a quarter of their inflows – is also growing, meaning that many exchanges are trading fewer coins actively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, December was a dismal month for bitcoin, losing nearly 20% of its value. Ether, the second-largest coin, also lost some of its value. These declines were the result of inflation fears and interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While bitcoin and ether posted gains last week – up 2.9% to $43,107 and 6.3% to $3,350 respectively – they are still a long way from their highs of $69,000 and $4,868 respectively in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research by cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital showed an identical shift in investors holding on to their bitcoin for longer periods, which “illustrates a transference from shorter-term ‘weak hands’ to long-term ‘strong hands’.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, bitcoin miners are recovering from mining crackdowns in China and recent turmoil in Kazakhstan, one of the world’s hubs for bitcoin mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The average “hash rate” of bitcoin, a measure of the performance of the bitcoin computing network, reached an all-time high of more than 215 million terahashes per second on Thursday, according to blockchain data provider Glassnode.<\/p>\n\n\n