Although it sometimes tends to get lost in the mix, Ethereum is a very popular cryptocurrency asset, second only to Bitcoin as a general store of digital blockchain value around the world.
A new study by VIewbase found that almost 24% of all Ethereum held by surveyed investors is now held on exchanges, compared to about 8% of Bitcoin holdings.
Are Bitcoin holders being more cautious, or is some other trend at work? Among differing explanations, crypto statistician Willie Woo has a different outlook.
“It’s a sign that new buyers are coming in to scoop the coins off the markets and moving them into cold storage,” Woo told Cointelegraph recently, talking about the amounts of BTC taken off of hot exchange platforms, and calling this evidence of a “macro bullish” trend for Bitcoin.
However, the way many traders intuitively see exchange holdings is that cryptocurrencies are held on the exchange as they’re traded, and then moved into cold wallets later, for better security outcomes. With that said, it makes sense for long-term buy and hold assets to be in cold storage – so Woo’s postulate makes sense.
To go into more detail, the practice of crypto asset management is still evolving.
“Instead of having to manage multiple accounts and wallets, crypto asset management platforms are simplifying the process by helping users consolidate their diverse holdings while simultaneously providing improved portfolio management tools,” writes an analyst at Investopedia, while acknowledging that a lot of smaller investors still manage their own holdings. According to surveys, these do-it-yourselfers are choosing to store BTC away for the winter.
To some, the holding of Ethereum on exchanges signals the asset’s popularity, although as a disclaimer, a different Glassnode study cited in the same Cointelegraph story found very different numbers, with about 14% of each of the two cryptocurrencies characterized as asset holdings.
What do you think? Do you have ETH or BTC, and if so, is it online or in cold wallets?