Key Takeaways:
- A dormant Bitcoin whale transferred 80,201 BTC (worth $9.6B) to Galaxy Digital, with some coins also sent to Binance and Bybit.
- The whale’s holdings date back to 2011, with no prior activity for 14 years until the first move on July 4, 2025.
- Speculation suggests motives range from liquidation and security reshuffling to Galaxy Digital potentially purchasing the entire stash.
A long-dormant Bitcoin whale has transferred a total of 80,201 BTC – worth approximately $9.6 billion – to Galaxy Digital over four days, sparking significant interest among analysts and on-chain watchers.
The final transfer of 40,192 BTC followed an earlier 40,009 BTC transaction.
The Satoshi-era whale has just deposited the last 40,192 $BTC ($4.83B) into #GalaxyDigital.
— Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) July 17, 2025
In total, this Bitcoin OG has transferred 80,201 $BTC ($9.6B) to #GalaxyDigital over the past 4 days.
Address: bc1qs4nzm0je7wqfyfmqr4ht4upyzy57vc95nf4au0
Data @nansen_ai pic.twitter.com/vi7RNmzwY1
The whale, inactive for 14 years, originally accumulated 20,000 BTC in April 2011 and 60,009 BTC in May 2011.
Blockchain data services Onchain Lens and Nansen tracked the activity, noting that at least 6,000 BTC were routed to Binance and Bybit, possibly for liquidity.
Komodo Platform CTO Kadan Stadelmann speculated the move might reflect profit-taking or asset reallocation, possibly toward off-grid or family-focused ventures.
He also noted the whale may be reacting to Bitcoin’s increasing institutionalization.
Pseudonymous trader Marty Party suggested Galaxy Digital outright purchased the BTC, with plans to hold, sell, and reinvest.
Whale Clips: Called it 20hrs ago. @galaxyhq buys the last 40k Bitcoin from the "Satoshi Era 2011 80k Coinbase" wallets.
— MartyParty (@martypartymusic) July 17, 2025
17 min ago 25k of the remining 40k moved to their wallet bc1q0phej5lf.
IMO: They bought all 80k, sold some and will hold some, and use the proceeds to… https://t.co/9pKp4x0sID pic.twitter.com/Y34LlnerYq
Some BTC may have been redistributed to smaller wallets.
Bitcoin’s surge past $122,000 briefly pushed the whale’s holdings to $9.7 billion and Satoshi Nakamoto’s theoretical net worth beyond $131 billion, potentially ranking them as the 11th richest individual globally.
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