Galaxy Digital has transferred 17,123 BTC (worth approximately $1.98 billion) to multiple centralized exchanges including Binance, OKX, and Bybit within a 12-hour period. According to on-chain tracker Lookonchain, this included over 10,000 BTC ($1.18B) moved in just 8 hours, with an additional 5,690 BTC deposited in the final hour alone. Arkham data confirms another 2,850 BTC ($330M) was added near publication time.
The BTC originated from a Satoshi-era whale who hadn't accessed their 80,009 BTC ($9.68B) holdings for 14 years, transferring the assets to Galaxy Digital in batches starting July 15. Concurrently, Galaxy withdrew $370M in USDT from exchanges, suggesting potential asset rotation or liquidation.
Bitcoin's price dropped over 3% within eight hours of the transfers, falling to $115,444 amid rejection at the $119,000 resistance level. This marks a 4.21% weekly decline, with analysts warning a breach below $114,000 could trigger further downside. Market sentiment has turned bearish short-term, though some speculate the moves represent custodial rebalancing rather than full exit.