A crypto whale has recently moved over 7,400 BTC worth about $500 million into the crypto exchange Coinbase. The asset movement has raised concerns in the market over a potential dump of the cryptocurrency.
For context, crypto whales are individuals or corporations that hold a large quantity of a particular digital asset. Most times, a buy or sell action from a whale can potentially impact the crypto asset’s price, causing an increase or a decrease.
Whale Moves $500M in BTC
According to On-chain details of the transaction revealed by the blockchain tracker Whale Alert, the crypto whale transferred 7,482 BTC worth around 504 million at the current price through eleven transactions to Coinbase wallet.
In response to this transaction from the unknown wallet, Bitcoin holders and others in the crypto community speculate that the whale might sell off his BTC holdings. Usually, a transaction of this size would be regarded as a massive dump or sell-off, which might likely cause a significant price drop for cryptocurrency.
Although this transaction sparked market fears of dumping, it is worth noting that it might be an institution moving its BTC into Coinbase Custody or maybe that the exchange moved funds to handle its clients’ trading demands.
Other Whale Movement
Since Bitcoin touched the new all-time high (ATH) of $69,300 earlier this week, there has been increased selling pressure. An on-chain analysis revealed that several Bitcoiners sold a large amount of cryptocurrency. Hundreds of BTC were transferred to various exchanges such as Coinbase around the same time the BTC peak price was achieved.
Bitcoin miners also took part in the price drop, as data revealed that decade-old BTC addresses linked to Bitcoin miners transferred 1,000 BTC (worth $69 million) to Coinbase, possibly with the intention of cashing out. These movements contribute to the leading cryptocurrency plunge by 15% after the ATH.
The recent bullish trend in Bitcoin’s price can be attributed to institutional inflows into the digital asset via US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which were approved on January 10.
Furthermore, with the halving event fast approaching, market analysts predict that the digital asset’s price will soar as high as $200,000. At press time, the price of the largest crypto asset by market cap increased by 1.32% in the last 24 hours, exchanging hands at $67,306.
