Earlier this week, bitcoin (BTC) rallied more than 13% to a five-week high daily close of $71,400, dragging the rest of the crypto market upward.

Data from IntoTheBlock has revealed that a certain cohort of Bitcoin investors accumulated more of the asset than others during the surge.

Bitcoin Whales on Accumulation Spree

According to IntoTheBlock, Bitcoin addresses holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC (whales) were the main accumulators of BTC as the asset’s value surged beyond $71,000. These addresses collectively added 20,000 BTC, worth approximately $1.4 billion at current prices, to their balances in the past seven days.

The rise in BTC’s price and accumulation by whales coincides with the steady inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These investment vehicles have seen nine consecutive days of inflows exceeding $1.75 billion.

Bitcoin whales have been on an accumulation spree this month amid the crypto market experiencing significant volatility. CryptoPotato reported in early May that this cohort of investors accumulated 15,121 BTC worth $941 million within 24 hours, increasing their collective wallet balance to its highest level in two weeks.

On another occasion, data from CryptoQuant revealed that Bitcoin whales acquired 47,000 BTC worth over $2.8 billion within the 24 hours ending May 3.

The surge in BTC accumulation by whales follows a lengthy period of profit-taking that saw this cohort of market participants move their assets to crypto exchanges in droves. Their unrealized profit margins rose to high levels after BTC hit its all-time high of $73,700 in mid-March, and they offloaded their assets to make profits.

Bitcoin Retraces

Although whales are aggressively accumulating BTC, the cryptocurrency has been on a decline since yesterday. Data from CoinMarketCap showed that BTC was hovering around $67,400 at the time of writing, having bled 3.6% in the past 24 hours.

Yesterday, the crypto asset dropped by roughly $2,000 in minutes as the market experienced volatility in anticipation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision on eight applications for spot Ethereum ETFs. While the SEC has approved the listing of the funds, both BTC and Ether have recorded no gains as a result.

Nevertheless, the growing number of non-empty stablecoin wallets suggests that a significant rally may occur soon.