A crypto whale spent about $85.42 million in USDC to buy 1,075.6 Bitcoin over four days through THORChain while Bitcoin remained below the $80,000 level. On-chain trackers Lookonchain and Ember estimated the average entry price at roughly $79,412 per BTC, including about $170,000 in THORChain swap fees, equivalent to around 0.2% of the capital deployed.
The purchases were sent to two Bitcoin addresses and executed through multiple transactions rather than a single block trade. Ember initially tracked about $14.2 million in USDC being converted into 179.8 BTC at an average price near $78,955. The position later increased to 767.8 BTC before reaching 1,075.6 BTC. Blockchain attribution links the wallet to an entity that previously sold approximately 50,600 ETH near the end of 2025 at an average price of about $2,921, generating roughly $19 million in realized profit. The wallet then remained largely inactive for about eight months before re-emerging for the Bitcoin purchases.
The trade is notable because the whale used decentralized cross-chain infrastructure instead of a centralized exchange or institutional over-the-counter desk. THORChain allows users to swap native assets across blockchains without wrapping assets or depositing them with a centralized intermediary. The $85.42 million conversion is significant compared with THORChain's recent activity: the protocol reported roughly $613 million in swap volume in August, down 23% from about $797 million in July. The whale's purchase is therefore equivalent to nearly 14% of THORChain's entire August volume, though the transactions occurred in September. THORChain also reported 23,500 active wallets in August, up 57% from the previous month, with 21,800 new wallets joining the network.
The timing has not immediately worked in the buyer's favor. Bitcoin traded near $77,300 on September 12, about $2,100 below the whale's reported average entry price. At that level, the 1,075.6 BTC position carried an unrealized loss of roughly $2.3 million before additional costs. The buyer continued deploying capital while Bitcoin struggled to reclaim $80,000 and macro conditions tightened. U.S. inflation rose 3.4% year over year in August, while core prices increased 0.3% month over month, adding to expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at its September 15-16 meeting. Higher rates can increase yields on cash and government securities, potentially reducing demand for speculative assets.
Separately, an unverified report attributed to CryptoQuant claimed long-term Bitcoin holders sold 539,000 BTC in the $77,000 to $80,000 price range this year. The original CryptoQuant analysis, methodology and holding-period definition could not be verified. The reported selling figure lacks historical comparison and buyer-demand data, so it does not by itself establish Bitcoin's future price direction. Bitcoin's market capitalization stood near $1.55 trillion, with 24-hour trading volume around $32.9 billion, and the broader crypto Fear & Greed Index read 63, in Greed territory, on September 12. One large buyer does not confirm a market bottom, but the trade suggests some large holders are willing to accumulate into weakness and that decentralized liquidity infrastructure is becoming practical for large transactions.
