A mysterious entity has been making waves in the cryptocurrency market, purchasing large amounts of Bitcoin on a daily basis. The entity labelled “Mr. 100” has been buying up to 1,600 BTC daily worth about $100 million, sparking speculation about their identity and motives.
The entity was first highlighted in a tweet by crypto investor “HODL15Capital” on Thursday, who noted that Mr. 100 has been buying at least 100 BTC per day since November 22nd. Notably, while the buyer’s true identity is still unknown, the pundit suggested that the investor was making the purchases from South Korean exchanges, leading some to speculate that the buyer may be based in Asia or the Middle East.
This comes even as the pundit highlighted another significant player, “Mr. 34”. This whale, holding a staggering 22,670 BTC according to data from Bitinfocharts, made a notable move by purchasing 156 Bitcoin worth around $9.7 million on Wednesday, marking its return to the market after a pause since December.
“This is an interesting Buy & Hold investor. Bought 12,000 BTC in the $20,000 range. Bought in size at the cycle lows in the $16,000s & opportunistically adding more since,” HODL15Capital wrote, describing Mr.34.
The surge in Bitcoin’s price past $63,000 earlier this week has brought renewed interest in the cryptocurrency market, with many retail and institutional investors looking to get in on the action. Companies such as MicroStrategy have been aggressively adding to their Bitcoin reserves, with the company’s latest purchase of 3,000 BTC bringing its total stash to over 193,000 BTC, worth nearly $12 billion.
The approval of several spot ETFs in January has also brought credibility to the crypto market, with many seeing it as a sign of the market’s maturity. Reddit, a popular social media platform, recently became one of the largest entrants into the sector, purchasing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies in anticipation of going public.
Crypto-focused investment firm Bitwise Asset Management also purchased $37.2 million in Bitcoin for their Bitwise Bitcoin Fund (BITB) last week with firm’s CIO, Matt Hougan, tweeting that “Things are going to get interesting.”
Recently, renowned investor and Bitcoin evangelist Balaji predicted that the price of Bitcoin could surge further in the near future, considering the upcoming BBTC halving in April, making the crypto asset even scarcer.
Mike Novogratz, the founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital, also weighed in on the market, suggesting that Bitcoin could continue swelling with investors who had been locked out and are now able to access it.
“BTC is in price discovery phase. Maybe really for the first time since it’s been an asset as now the bulk of US wealth has easy access. Hard to predict where we stop,” wrote Novogratz,