A ‘Satoshi-Era’ Bitcoin Whale Just Dumped $9 Billion BTC. Here’s Why Some Crypto Lovers Think This Is a Really Bad Sign.

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) has delivered stratospheric gains over the past few months. It will likely continue doing so over the long run, but the price action has made a technical reversal after failing to hold above the $120,000 level.

www.barchart.com However, this may not be just due to technical reasons, as a massive $9 billion Bitcoin sale by a mysterious “Satoshi-era” whale has led to some bearishness.

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Asset manager Galaxy Digital disclosed on July 25 that a wallet with 80,000 BTC offloaded its holdings. This wallet was dormant after accumulating its holdings between 2010 and 2011. Back then, BTC was worth $1 to $10 each! For those unfamiliar, Satoshi Nakomoto is the “presumed” pseudonym of the person or people who developed BTC and wrote its white paper.

Are the OGs Losing Faith? Here’s Why the Whale May Have Sold.

This wallet has held Bitcoin through thick and thin, as confidence in BTC was drastically lower even just five years ago. Scott Melker, a popular crypto commentator and influencer, said that early whales were losing faith, athough this is unlikely to be the case. Crypto whales aren’t a monolith, so they’re not going to collectively lose faith. If anything, confidence should be higher today than at any point before. Never has Bitcoin been so popular as it is today, and even the U.S. government has an official Bitcoin reserve now, with the number of vendors accepting Bitcoin expected to grow fast. Even Texas approved its own BTC reserve. All things considered, Bitcoin maxis remain in the driving seat.

It is more plausible that with BTC becoming so accepted in the mainstream, that it is easier for the whale to conduct such a large sale all at once. Plus, billions in Bitcoin would make anyone antsy to withdraw and retire for good.

Regardless, many in the crypto community think more Satoshi-era wallets could wake up and disrupt the market.

Could More Whales Crash BTC?

The immediate market impact of this whale selling was surprisingly muted. The market absorbed it, and BTC fell to its current price near $115,000 days after the transaction, likely for other reasons including tariff-driven risk-off sentiment.

There’s plenty of liquidity in the market, and any immediate subsequent sales of this size are unlikely. You should also keep in mind that tens of billions in BTC change hands every day, with roughly equal amounts on each side of the order book, assuming BTC trades flat.

Story ContinuesThat said, if all Satoshi-era wallets sell at once, this certainly will be a problem. Recently, five wallets from 2010 moved 250 BTC collectively, worth nearly $30 million at the time. Hundreds to thousands of similar wallets remain untouched. Satoshi Nakamoto’s personal stash of BTC is estimated to range from 600,000 to 1.1 million BTC, or up to $126.5 billion. The conventional wisdom says Satoshi either does not have access to these wallets or is no longer around. But if he came back online and suddenly sold his entire stash (which accounts for roughly 5.5% of total supply), it could trigger a “black swan” event. Still, this won’t end Bitcoin as the market will be able to absorb it, though the price may come down 30%-40% before rebounding.

All things considered, BTC remains a long-term buy.

On the date of publication, Omor Ibne Ehsan did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com

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