Entities linked to alleged Mt. Gox hacker Aleksey Bilyuchenko transferred another 1,300 BTC, worth approximately $114 million, to unknown exchanges over the past week, according to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence. Analyst Emmett Gallic reported the deposits, noting they mark an acceleration of a controlled selloff that began months ago.
The wallets associated with Bilyuchenko still hold 4,100 BTC, valued at around $360 million. Since distribution activity began in October, a total of 2,300 BTC has been sold. Gallic first flagged this systematic distribution in October, when roughly 8,000 BTC connected to the WEX/BTC-e case appeared to be controlled by Russian authorities, specifically the third department of the second service of the CSS of the FSB.
The structured nature of the transfers suggests deliberate positioning rather than panic selling, with each deposit carefully routed through exchanges that obscure the final destination. There is uncertainty about whether Bilyuchenko, who remains jailed in Russia, continues to control these funds, as Moscow courts have seized most of his other assets.
The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed charges against Bilyuchenko and co-conspirator Aleksandr Verner in June 2023, alleging they conspired to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins stolen from Mt. Gox between September 2011 and May 2014. "Armed with the ill-gotten gains from Mt. Gox, Bilyuchenko allegedly went on to help set up the notorious BTC-e virtual currency exchange, which laundered funds for cyber criminals worldwide," stated Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. at the time.
Court documents revealed the conspirators gained unauthorized access to Mt. Gox's servers in September 2011. The stolen bitcoins represented the vast majority of Mt. Gox customer holdings. Bilyuchenko also allegedly operated BTC-e from 2011 until law enforcement shut it down in July 2017. According to Justice Department estimates, BTC-e processed over $9 billion in transactions and served approximately one million users worldwide.
This distribution adds another layer of supply pressure to Bitcoin markets, which are already struggling under broader whale selloffs and thinning holiday liquidity. Bitcoin slipped 1.12% below $87,000 as the news broke. Wallets holding between 10,000 and 100,000 BTC collectively reduced their positions by 36,500 BTC (worth ~$3.37 billion) since early December, contributing to what analysts call Bitcoin's "weakest year-end performance in seven years."
Bitcoin ETFs recorded $650.8 million in outflows over four days, led by BlackRock's $157 million single-day withdrawal. Bitfinex analysts warned that Bitcoin faces "a substantial headwind in the form of a dense overhead supply cluster accumulated by top buyers between $94,000 and $120,000." The ongoing Bilyuchenko selloff, with 4,100 BTC still available for distribution, threatens to extend market consolidation into early 2026.
