UK Firm Acquires $250 Million in Bitcoin as Market Braces for Calmer Easter Weekend

UK investment firm Abraxas Capital has purchased 2,949 Bitcoin valued at more than $250 million over four days leading up to April 19. The London-based firm completed its latest transaction on April 18, buying over $45 million worth of Bitcoin from Binance, according to crypto intelligence firm Lookonchain citing Arkham Intelligence data.

This significant investment follows Michael Saylor's Strategy acquiring $285 million worth of Bitcoin at an average price of $82,618 per BTC. These major corporate Bitcoin holders continue to show confidence in the cryptocurrency despite global tariff uncertainty.

Large Bitcoin investors, commonly known as whales, are actively accumulating, absorbing over 300% of Bitcoin's yearly issuance. Exchanges are losing coins at a historic pace, according to Cointelegraph's April 18 report.

Market analysts expect a calmer Easter weekend following two weeks of heightened volatility caused by global trade tensions. However, some concerns have been raised by movements from the medium-term Bitcoin cohort, which holds coins for three to six months. Over 170,000 Bitcoin entered circulation from this group.

Bitfinex exchange analysts told Cointelegraph that large on-chain movement rarely affects weekend price action since it's not on liquid markets. They noted funding rates remain relatively flat, and with US markets closed for Easter weekend, volatility could be lower without White House announcements.

Recent market concerns were elevated after the Mantra token's price fell by over 90% on Sunday, April 13, from roughly $6.30 to below $0.50. This collapse triggered market manipulation allegations and brought attention to liquidity issues in the industry.

Two weeks prior, on April 6, Bitcoin dropped below $75,000 on Sunday as investor concerns spread from a record-breaking $5 trillion sell-off from the SP 500. Blockstream CEO Adam Back explained that Bitcoin's 24/7 trading availability made it the only large liquid asset available for de-risking on Sunday, with weekend low volume increasing risks of flash crashes.

Bitcoin staking services are gaining momentum with Lombard Finance's recent SDK release targeting $154 billion in idle bitcoin on exchanges. The toolkit allows users to stake BTC for LBTC tokens that generate 3% annual yield in Lombard's DeFi Vault. Binance and Bybit have already implemented the technology, which supports multiple wallet integrations and has grown into a $4 billion market since launching seven months ago.