Key Takeaways
- Dormant bitcoin whale moved 40,192 BTC ($4.75B) after 14 years.
- Recent transfers include 40,010 BTC sent to Galaxy Digital, with some funds reaching exchanges.
- The whale's identity is unknown, but likely an early miner from the 2011 era.
A major bitcoin whale, whose wallet had been inactive for over 14 years, has moved another 40,192 BTC — valued at $4.75 billion — to a new address early Thursday, according to onchain data.
The entity had previously transferred approximately 80,000 BTC (worth $9.5 billion) on July 4, splitting the funds into eight new addresses in batches of 10,000 BTC each.
Details of the latest transfers
This week, 40,010 BTC from the original stash was sent to addresses labeled as belonging to Galaxy Digital, a firm known for its over-the-counter (OTC) bitcoin trading services.
Some of these funds were later traced to exchange OKX and other unidentified wallets.
The remaining 40,192 BTC were held across four addresses before being consolidated into a single new address, following several smaller test transactions.
Speculation around future sales
According to Lookonchain, the movement of funds could signal additional sales:
“The whale may continue to sell.”
Galaxy Digital’s OTC desk allows large holders to offload bitcoin privately, minimizing market disruption.
The recent transfers come as bitcoin trades near its all-time high, with the price currently around $118,472.
Who is the OG whale?
The identity of the whale remains unknown, with speculation ranging from early bitcoin figures like Roger Ver to Satoshi Nakamoto or institutional actors.
Coinbase Director Conor Grogan suggested the entity is likely an early miner from the 2011 era, when the block subsidy was 50 BTC per block.
The 80,000 BTC fortune far exceeds the 50,000 BTC previously seized and sold by the German government, highlighting the scale of these recent movements.
