5th Richest Bitcoin Whale Moves Over $6 Billion During BTC Slump

A known Bitcoin whale has moved almost its entire balance to three new addresses over the weekend, as the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency saw a significant slump from its all-time high of $73,000.

The address labeled 37X, which the crypto community has been watching for several years due to its massive Bitcoin trove, moved “almost its entire balance of 94.5K BTC” worth some $6.6 billion based on current prices early Saturday, blockchain and on-chain data de-anonymizing AI platform Arkham Intelligence revealed Tuesday. At the time of the move, BTC prices were at $63,000.

Arkham noted that the Bitcoins, which had “not been moved” since the 37X received them in 2019, have now been transferred to three new addresses. The wallet now only has 1.4 BTC left, as per Arkham.

Also, the Bitcoin transfers by 37X were carried out ahead of the digital coin’s halving, wherein Bitcoin mining rewards are halved, reducing the availability rate of new Bitcoins in circulation.

37X isn’t the only Bitcoin whale that moved thousands of Bitcoins over the weekend. Blockchain tracker Whale Alert which analyzes the movement of the largest holders of cryptocurrencies revealed Saturday that a Coinbase wallet moved 8,172 BTC worth over $519 million at the time of its transfer to an unknown new wallet.

Also, late in February, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase saw significant Bitcoin withdrawals, with over 18,000 BTC worth nearly $1 billion being removed from the platform, according to on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant. Whales moved Bitcoins with values ranging between $45 million and $171 million, “resulting in the smallest confirmed reserve of the digital currency since 2017,” the report said.

There have been divided views about crypto whales withdrawing or transferring their holdings, with some saying it indicates bullish sentiment in the broader market. Others believe there are potential sell-offs underway, so the whales can take profits. Some observers suggest massive Bitcoin transfers could simply mean bearish views.

News regarding the movement of massive Bitcoin holdings came as the cryptocurrency hit $70,000 Tuesday after it plummeted to lows of $62,000 last week. While the current price is still below its all-time high of $73,000 earlier this month, the recovery has had the Bitcoin community moving.

Despite Bitcoin’s dive last week, some analysts remained upbeat. Bernstein hiked its year-end 2024 price target from $80,000 to $90,000, while Standard Chartered went as far as projecting that the coin can hit $250,000 sometime next year should spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows reach the bank’s mid-point estimates of $75 billion.