Bitcoin News Today: OG Bitcoin Whale Moves $4.68 Billion to Galaxy Digital, Bitcoin Drops 6%

A single wallet that had remained dormant since 2011 suddenly transferred 40,009 BTC, valued at approximately $4.68 billion at current prices, to Galaxy Digital, a prominent trading firm based in New York. The wallet, which originally held 80,009 BTC, had never moved funds in the modern era until this transaction. According to on-chain analysis, the Bitcoin OG with 80,009 BTC ($9.46 billion) transferred 40,009 BTC ($4.68 billion) to Galaxy Digital, which subsequently deposited 6,000 BTC ($706 million) into Binance and Bybit.

The activity began late Monday evening (UTC). Initially, 9,000 BTC, worth about $1.06 billion, left the dormant wallet. An hour later, another 7,843 BTC, valued at $927 million, was transferred. Over the next five hours, several smaller tranches arrived at Galaxy Digital’s custodial accounts, culminating in a total transfer of 40,009 BTC. Blockchain explorers revealed that the coins originated from a bech32 address that first received block rewards in early 2011, when bitcoin was valued at less than one US dollar.

Galaxy Digital is known for operating one of the largest over-the-counter (OTC) desks in the industry, facilitating block trades for institutions to avoid slippage on public venues. The firm offers "premier execution" and bespoke liquidity provisioning for trades that are too large for order-book execution. On-chain analysts interpreted the wallet’s choice of counterparty as an indication that the owner intends to liquidate at least part of the hoard discreetly, rather than deploying it into DeFi or cold storage. Within hours of receiving the coins, Galaxy split 6,000 BTC between Binance and Bybit, the two venues currently posting the deepest spot-BTC liquidity.

Bitcoin had recently reached an all-time high of $123,153 on July 14, driven by legislative support during Washington’s “Crypto Week.” As the OG whale’s transactions hit public mempools, spot prices recoiled more than 6%, dropping from $123,000 to an intraday low near $115,700 before stabilizing around $116,900 at press time. With half of the stash now under Galaxy’s control and only a fraction confirmed as exchange deposits, traders are preparing for further transfers. If Galaxy executes an OTC cross, the impact could be muted; if the coins bleed into order books, bids at $112,000-$115,000 will face a major test.

However, the price drop cannot be solely attributed to the OG whale’s actions; it coincided with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ June CPI print, which showed headline consumer prices rising 0.3% month-on-month and 2.7% year-on-year, up from 2.4% in May. Core CPI ticked up 0.2% on the month and 2.9% on the year. The modest print pushed the dollar index above 95.5, and risk assets have been whipsawing ever since. At press time, BTC stood at $116,972.