A long-dormant Satoshi-era whale has re-emerged, moving over $4.6 billion in BTC across multiple transactions. On-chain data confirms the transfers occurred between July 14 and 15, with a majority of the funds sent to Galaxy Digital, an institutional crypto trading firm. The sudden activity triggered concerns over a potential large-scale selloff as Bitcoin hovers near record highs. This latest development is undoubtedly one of the standout stories among all the Bitcoin news today.
The whale originally acquired 80,000 BTC in 2011, when Bitcoin was trading below $30. After 14 years of inactivity, the whale split the holdings across eight wallets on July 4. Since then, more than 16,843 BTC, worth over $2 billion, has been transferred to Galaxy Digital. These transfers include separate tranches of 4,500 BTC and 4,000 BTC, as well as smaller batches, such as 2,043 BTC and 2,800 BTC.
Lookonchain, an on-chain analytics platform, reported that the wallet linked to the whale, identified as 'bc1qq8', fully liquidated its remaining 3,157 BTC, worth approximately $371 million. In total, the whale appears to have sold the entire 80,000 BTC through Galaxy Digital and associated exchanges such as Binance and Bybit.
On-chain analyst EmberCN noted the scale of the transfer and suggested it indicates an intent to offload holdings. Supporting this, blockchain data showed a surge in the “Coin Days Destroyed” metric, which has historically signaled corrections after extended rallies.
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The whale's activity coincided with a sharp pullback in Bitcoin’s price. After reaching an all-time high above $123,000, Bitcoin fell more than 5%, dropping to $116,718. CoinGlass data confirmed a decrease in futures open interest, with Binance and CME reporting declines of over 2% each in the last four hours.
Analyst Crazyblockk observed a notable rise in $1 million-plus transactions on Binance, accounting for over 35% of total inflows. Most of these funds originated from older wallets, suggesting that legacy holders may be locking in profits or repositioning their assets. Whale address 0x960B is alleged to have shifted from an extended position to a short one, realizing an unrealized profit of $228,000.
Amid the selloff, certain market participants note ETF inflows and continued regulatory developments as potential sources of support for Bitcoin. Other sources, like Nexo analyst Iliya Kalchev, hope that this is driving optimism based on an event called “Crypto Week” in Washington. The legislative proposal would help clarify the regulations on stablecoins, custody, and crypto infrastructure.
Bitcoin is now the fifth-largest asset in the world by market capitalization, surpassing Amazon with its current valuation of $ 2.3 trillion. Nevertheless, volatility could persist in the short term as large-scale BTC movements back to exchanges are resurfacing.