BTC transfers to spot exchanges have increased tremendously over the past 24 hours leading into the Merge.
Ethereum’s transition to a proof-of-stake governance consensus is estimated to take place in less than a couple of hours at the time of this writing.
With this, spot exchanges have seen massive inflows of BTC, which is usually a precursor of an increase in volatility.
Data from the popular cryptocurrency analytics resource CryptoQuant reveals that the BTC flowing into exchanges has increased substantially over the past hours.
Source: CryptoQuant
Commenting on the matter was a CryptoQuant analyst, who said:
The current value of miner transfers to spot exchanges (hourly) is 10.4537 as of September 14th, 2022, higher than recent peaks in miner transfer activity. Stable values above 10 were last recorded in July-August before the local fall of BTC. Generally ,the massive transfers of miners to spot exchanges are usually associated with subsequent pressure, i.e., miners are selling out, and the price of BTC is falling.
When miners transfer their BTC to spot exchanges, it usually suggests that they are more willing to sell them, hence the event being a precursor to higher volatility, most often propelling a move to the downside.
It’s also worth noting that the inflows increased hours before the upcoming Merge event when Ethereum will transition to a proof-of-stake governance mechanism.
It remains entirely possible that BTC miners are preparing themselves for the market turbulence that many analysts are predicting.
Georgi Georgiev is CryptoPotato's editor-in-chief and seasoned writer with over four years of experience writing about blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Georgi's passion for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies bloomed in late 2016 and he hasn't looked back since. Crypto’s technological and economic implications are what interest him most, and he has one eye turned to the market whenever he’s not sleeping. Contact George: LinkedIn
