Bitcoin News Today: OG Bitcoin Whale Moves $4.75 Billion in BTC to Galaxy Digital

An original Bitcoin wallet, dormant for 14 years, has recently transferred 40,192 BTC, valued at approximately $4.75 billion, to a new address. This transfer follows a previous movement of over 80,000 BTC by the same wallet, which had been inactive since 2011. The initial transfer of 80,000 BTC was made in 10,000 BTC batches to eight new addresses. On Tuesday, 40,010 BTC from this initial transfer was sent to two addresses associated with Galaxy Digital, a prominent digital asset management firm. Some of these funds were subsequently transferred to crypto exchanges, while the rest remained in addresses identified as belonging to Galaxy Digital.

The latest transfer of 40,192 BTC was consolidated into a single new address beginning with "bc1qs" on Thursday at 1:33 a.m. UTC. This move came after a couple of initial 1 BTC test transactions on Tuesday and Wednesday. The consolidation of these funds into a single address suggests that the whale may be preparing for further transactions, potentially including additional sales through Galaxy Digital's OTC services. These services provide clients with a private alternative for trading large funds, bypassing public exchanges directly.

Over the past four days, this Bitcoin OG (Original Gangster) has transferred a total of 80,201 BTC (approximately $9.6 billion) to Galaxy Digital. The identity of the OG Bitcoin whale remains a subject of speculation. Some have suggested that the individual or entity behind the transfers could be early Bitcoin miners from the 2011 era, when the Bitcoin block subsidy was 50 BTC compared to the current 3.125 BTC. The total 80,000 BTC stash is significantly larger than the 50,000 BTC seized by the German government, which was later offloaded, missing out on billions of dollars worth of subsequent gains.

The recent movements by the OG Bitcoin whale have sparked concerns about potential sell-offs in the cryptocurrency market. Galaxy Digital's OTC services offer a discreet method for large-scale transactions, which could indicate that the whale is planning to liquidate more of its holdings. The transfer of funds to crypto exchanges further supports this hypothesis, as it suggests that the whale may be preparing to sell its Bitcoin through these platforms. The consolidation of the remaining 40,192 BTC into a single address adds to the speculation that the whale may continue to sell its holdings, potentially impacting the market dynamics of Bitcoin.