A recent report from Bitcoinist marked a worrying trend among early Bitcoin investors that may explain why the cryptocurrency’s price has been in a perpetual state of decline. According to data from on-chain data analytics platforms, these early Bitcoin whaleswho have thousands of BTC, had started selling their large stocks. But even after a month of consistent dumping, it appears these big investors are far from done, and more pain could be ahead.
Bitcoin whales dump billions of dollars on the market
As the Bitcoinist report showed, two early Bitcoin whales began moving their holdings to centralized exchanges back in October. This selloff continued into the new month, and by the first week of November, these two whales had sent more than 16,000 BTC to exchanges. In total, the value of BTC came to over $1.7 billion, showing the significant selling pressure that Bitcoin had faced at the time.
After these initial sales in early November, there appeared to be one slowdown in salesbut this did not last very long. On-chain data platform Lookonchain reported that the whales were back at it again, and this time one of the whales had returned and looks to be selling the rest of his holdings.
Bitcoin OG Owen Gunden is at the center of all this selling, and recently moved the last of his significant Bitcoin holdings to a centralized exchange. In total, Gunden sent 3,549 BTC worth $362.84 million at the time of the transaction to the Kraken exchange, after previously sending out 600 BTC worth $61.17 million. In total, Gunden has sent 11,000 BTC worth $1.12 billion to exchanges, probably to sell.
Why sales are increasing
With these early Bitcoin whales in motion and triggering significant sales pressure in the market the question has been why these investors are choosing to sell now after waiting all this time. This comes as the $100,000 level remains under threat, and these billion-dollar sell-offs could trigger a bear market.
While members of the crypto community are looking for deep meaning in the sales, crypto influencer Udi Wertheimer opines gave a short and precise answer: the OGs simply take a profit. These whales had bought their BTC when it was dirt cheap and have held onto their stashes for about 15 years. Having grown significantly since then, and most of them have become billionaires, it’s just natural for these whales to sell and withdraw their winnings.
Instead of asking why the whales are selling, Wertheimer explains that what investors should really be asking is “why isn’t the btc price down -70% when so many OGs are selling?” Given the strength Bitcoin is showing during the selloff, the crypto influencer believes “that’s what’s going to keep the bears up at night.”
Featured image created with Dall.E, charts from Tradingview.com
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