KEY POINTS
- One whale moved over $483 million to Coinbase Institutional
- X users had mixed reactions to the massive transfers of Bitcoin ahead of the halving
- Bitcoin is currently trading at around $63K, marking a sharp slump from its $73K all-time high last month
More than a billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) have moved within various cryptocurrency wallets in the past 24 hours as the world's largest digital asset by trading volume sharply retreated in recent days.
Whale Alert, which tracks the movement of cryptocurrencies held by the world's largest digital asset owners, said the latest move involved 1,199 BTC worth over $75.7 million that was transferred from an unknown wallet to crypto exchange titan Binance.
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 1,199 #BTC (75,765,389 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to #Binancehttps://t.co/KVNHO1M0Za
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) April 16, 2024
Another Bitcoin whale transferred a staggering 7,690 BTC worth over $483.4 million to Coinbase Institutional. One whale transferred 2,467 Bitcoin worth over $156 million from Coinbase Institutional to an unknown digital wallet.
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 7,690 #BTC (483,425,557 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to Coinbase Institutionalhttps://t.co/olrmzaQdHx
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) April 16, 2024
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 2,467 #BTC (156,145,511 USD) transferred from Coinbase Institutional to unknown wallethttps://t.co/uBUPTVSih2
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) April 15, 2024
At around the same time, one more whale transferred 3,598 BTC worth over $227 million between unknown digital wallets. Finally, a whale with 5,345 Bitcoin worth more than $339 million moved the stash to Coinbase Institutional. Collectively, the Bitcoin tracked Bitcoin whales moved a staggering $1.2 billion worth of BTC in the past 24 hours.
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 3,598 #BTC (227,362,611 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallethttps://t.co/n2CEAnt3Im
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) April 15, 2024
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 5,345 #BTC (339,262,126 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to Coinbase Institutionalhttps://t.co/V9x8Mamdld
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) April 15, 2024
The said movements drew mixed reactions from the crypto community on X (formerly Twitter) as Bitcoiners anticipate the upcoming halving on April 20 that will cut BTC rewards in half and reduce the supply of new Bitcoin in the market.
One user suggested that the whale who moved over $400 million in Bitcoin may be "staking" the stash. Another said it was "time to buy" as institutional holders have started selling. One user had a unique take on the transfers, saying the whales "are just sending them because Coinbase is running out of BTC on their exchange." Another user said it was "honestly scary" that there were lots of liquidations in the crypto industry at this point.
The movement of massive amounts of Bitcoin comes four days before the much-anticipated halving event that has historically pushed up BTC prices. However, it could be different this time due to various factors in the market, as well as geopolitical conflicts around the world that have stoked fear in financial markets.
Among the many Bitcoiners who believe BTC prices will spike in the days leading to the halving and after the event, Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, had a more pessimistic view of the event's short term impact on BTC prices.
His reason for a less optimistic expectation of Bitcoin prices around the halving is the "tighter than usual" conditions around dollar liquidity, which he deems will "add propellant to a raging firesale of crypto assets."
From setting a new all-time high last month at $73,000, Bitcoin is trading at around $63,000 as of Tuesday.
