Definition. This chart compares the yearly rate of balance change of Shark and Whale entities to the volume of BTC mined over the same period, providing a relative measure of the amount of new issuance which was theoretically absorbed by these cohorts. Shark absorption is shown as blue columns, Whale absorption as purple columns, and their combined rate as a cyan line, alongside price (grey).

Technical. Each rate divides the cohort's 365-day balance change by the growth of circulating supply over the same window:

• Absorption Rate = diff(Cohort Balance, 365) / diff(Circulating Supply, 365)

Cohorts are entity-based (clustered addresses): Sharks hold 100–1k BTC, and Whales hold more than 1k BTC (the 1k–10k, 10k–100k and >100k entity balance bands combined), with exchange balances subtracted so that custodial holdings are not counted as Whale supply.

Interpretation. Absorption rates express cohort behavior relative to the pace of new issuance, which makes them comparable across halving epochs even as the mined volume shrinks:

• Values over 100% indicate that the cohort increased their aggregate balance by more than all coins mined in the past year, and thus acted as a net absorbing balance. Note that values over 100% are possible because coins can also be transferred from other investor cohorts (e.g. Whales to Shrimps, or Exchanges to Fish).

• Values near 0% indicate that the cohort's aggregate balance was approximately flat over the last year.

• Values below 0% indicate that the cohort's aggregate balance decreased over the past year, and was distributed alongside newly issued coins.

Notes. First featured in the research report The Shrimp Supply Sink: Revisiting the Distribution of Bitcoin Supply. Companion charts cover the other cohorts: Shrimp and Fish, Fish and Sharks, Exchanges and Miners. Built from the entity supply distribution metrics, Exchange Balance and Circulating Supply.