A Whale Has Just Transferred $330 Million Worth of Bitcoin
Yesterday, an unknown whale was reported to have transferred 7073 worth of Bitcoin, increasing the number of notable whale transactions in February. One anonymous wallet sent 7073 Bitcoin, an equivalent of $333 million, to somewhere else. Concerned Bitcoin stakeholders suggest that such a big transaction might result from the internal transfer, institutions sending cryptocurrency to cold storage, or OTC trading.
The transaction was tracked by Whale Alert, a system that monitors big crypto transactions. A whale, which refers to someone who owns a large sum of Bitcoin, completed the transaction around 2:00 UTC, which involved a transfer from an anonymous wallet to another. The whale was ranked 241st among the largest Bitcoin wallets before the exchange. The parties involved in the transaction could not be identified, so one could not ascertain the exact reason for the transfer.
The Identity of the Parties is Still Unknown
Whales do transfer funds when they want to make massive OTC trading, transfer crypto to cold storage, or send funds from one exchange wallet to the other. All in all, once the exact reason is unknown, all the assumptions can not be verified now because the parties involved have not been known. Meanwhile, this was not the first time whales have transferred funds this week, as some of them have been selling their Bitcoin in the past week. In just a week, the Bitcoin price fell from its record level of $58,000 to $47,000, the week’s low on February 27.
Two whales also exchanged 8,000 BTC, an equivalent of $400 million. The sender was ranked as 215th biggest wallet before the time of the exchange. The receiver was alleged to be Coinbase, one of the leading crypto platforms. But Bit Info, a site that also monitors Bitcoin transactions, said that the fund was received by BetVIP, a sportsbook specializing in only BTC, regulated in Curacao. The firm stopped operations in 2015, a year after it was established. It cited legal hurdles and inadequate earnings as reasons behind its failure to continue.
More whales waking up from hibernation
Since early January, several whales who had been hiding are now becoming active. For example, 100 BTC that had been dormant since 2010 was transferred last week, spurring more speculations. Analysts have often alleged that Satoshi Nakamoto, the Bitcoin creator who still prefers to remain anonymous, might own or know the owners of some of the old Bitcoins.
A few days ago, some whales exchanged 5 BTC. Ancient whales started grabbing headlines when 30 BTC exchanged hands on Feb. 9. Often, whales shake the markets when their transactions are made public. This happened in December 2020 immediately, Bitcoin broke the $20K’s previous high.
The reasons are not far-fetched: the unused old coins that had been dormant for almost ten years have now created new coins into the system. If a whale sells such coins, it would affect Bitcoin price negatively. Meanwhile, the bullish momentum witnessed in the past month has waned while the bears have taken over. This is coming when Bitcoin whales seem to be awake and are now coming back to the market.
