Bitcoin has officially seen its third-ever mining rewards halving event. This event – slated to occur every four years – reduces the block rewards by 50% in order to that the asset is deflationary.
The short-term bullishness of this event is widely debated.
Some analysts believe that the lower profitability seen amongst miners will lead them to stop selling their newly minted BTC until the crypto’s price climbs higher.
This would alleviate a significant amount of selling pressure that the crypto constantly faces.
Fundamental data shows that BTC is now exiting the event in a great position, and this data is making a compelling case for the crypto to see some immense bullishness in the weeks, months, and even years ahead.
Bitcoin Sees Tremendous Network Growth in Time Since Last Halving
It has been four years since the benchmark cryptocurrency’s last halving event, and the growth it has seen in the time following has been quite significant.
This is clearly elucidated while looking towards Bitcoin’s network growth, which just recently passed a major milestone when the 30 millionth wallet address was issued.
Rafael Schultze-Kraft – the co-founder of blockchain research platform Glassnode – spoke about the crypto’s fundamental strength in a , explaining that the number of BTC wallet addresses has increased by 234% since the 2016 mining rewards halving.
“The number of Bitcoin addresses is steadily increasing and currently at ATH. It recently crossed the milestone of 30 million addresses. That’s an increase of +234% since the last halving four years ago,” he noted while referencing data from Glassnode.
He further goes on to explain that the pace that the wallet address count has grown has been staggering, with the daily number of newly issued addresses climbing by 68% over the past four years.
“Not only is the network increasing, but so is the pace it which it grows. The current growth rate (daily number of addresses added to the Bitcoin network) is over 68% higher than compared to last halving four years ago.”
Whales Accumulate as Long-Term Outlook Grows Bright
Retail investors aren’t the only ones who have been flocking to Bitcoin in recent times.
Data from Glassnode also shows that the number of so-called “whales” has also grown significantly in recent times.
This is a sign that big money is being drawn into BTC as its mid and long-term outlook brightens.
“Both the number of Bitcoin addresses and entities holding ≥ 1,000 BTC are well on their way to reach new ATHs in 2020. Even though the increase since the last halving is not significant, it’s important to note that the USD value they hold is more than 10x higher,” Schultze-Kraft noted.
As small and large investors alike flock to Bitcoin, it is growing ever more likely that the cryptocurrency will soon begin bearing the fruits of the immense fundamental growth seen throughout the past several years.
Featured image from Unplash.