OG bitcoin whale moves another 40,000 BTC worth $4.75 billion to new address amid speculation of forthcoming sales

The Block

2025-07-17 17:32:02

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Addresses linked to the OG bitcoin whale that woke up after 14 years of dormancy earlier this month transferred another 40,192 BTC ($4.75 billion) to a new address early Thursday, according to onchain data.

The entity initially moved approximately 80,000 BTC ($9.5 billion) in 10,000 BTC batches to eight new addresses when it woke up for the first time since 2011 on July 4. On Tuesday, 40,010 BTC of this was then sent to two addresses labeled by the onchain analytics platform Arkham as Galaxy Digital.

Some of those funds appear to have subsequently been sent to crypto exchange OKX and other non-labeled addresses, while the rest remain at addresses Arkham identifies as belonging to Galaxy Digital.

At the time, fellow analyst Lookonchain noted that the entity was likely preparing to sell the bitcoin through Galaxy amid the foremost cryptocurrency's recent all-time high rally above $123,000. Galaxy Digital's OTC services offer clients a private alternative for trading large funds, bypassing public exchanges directly. Bitcoin is currently trading for $118,472, according to The Block's BTC price page.

The remaining 40,192 BTC were likely still held by the OG whale after initially transferring them on Independence Day — split equally across four addresses starting "bc1qn," "bc1qy," "bc1qm," and "1GcCK."

Those funds were then consolidated in batches to a single new address, beginning with "bc1qs", on Thursday at 1:33 a.m. UTC, following a couple of initial 1 BTC test transactions on Tuesday and Wednesday.

While that address has yet to move the funds, any subsequent transfers to entities like Galaxy Digital could indicate that the whale "may continue to sell," Lookonchain posted to X on Thursday.

Who is the OG bitcoin whale?

The initial July 4 transfers sparked wild speculation around the individual or entity that owns the 80,000 BTC, and the reason for the movement, with suggestions from "Bitcoin Jesus" turned Bitcoin Cash evangelist Roger Ver to the CIA and Satoshi Nakamoto themself being behind the transfers.

However, it's more likely that they are simply an early bitcoin miner from the 2011 era when the bitcoin block subsidy was 50 BTC compared to 3.125 BTC today, with far less competition, according to Coinbase Director Conor Grogan.

To put the OG whale's hoard into perspective, the total 80,000 BTC stash is significantly more than the 50,000 BTC seized by the German government that it offloaded last summer, missing out on billions of dollars worth of subsequent gains.

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