Flow

Vision

Bitcoin

Arkham

A wallet last active when Bitcoin was trading near $6,500 transferred $188 million of its holdings in recent days, its first onchain movement in seven years.
With the biggest cryptocurrency now trading at around $64,000 apiece, the whale transferred 2,931 Bitcoin (BTC) from wallet "356my" to wallet address "bc1qn" on Sunday, according to blockchain <a href="https://arkm.com/explorer/address/356myuxHtPTE9b6QGACxXp5nqQLiPBAsmK" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a> platform Arkham.&nbsp;
The whale is likely looking at a nearly 10-fold gain on the long-dormant holdings, <a href="https://x.com/OnchainLens/status/2076443324559638729" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to blockchain analytics platform Onchain Lens.
The transaction comes during a period when whale transfers — those at a minimum of $10 million per <a href="https://docs.coinglass.com/reference/whale-transfer" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Coinglass</a> — are accounting for the majority of Bitcoin flowing to cryptocurrency exchanges. Large whale transfers to exchanges often precede sales, which can place additional pressure on Bitcoin's price.
<img alt="" height="571" src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-2001.png" width="942">
Crypto wallet address 356my, transactions and token balance history. Source: Arkham
<h2 id="fast-becoming-year-of-the-whale">Fast becoming year of the whale</h2>
Whales have been driving most of the Bitcoin inflows to cryptocurrency exchanges since the beginning of the year.
About 99% of BTC deposited to exchanges is currently from the 10 largest individual transfers, according to CryptoQuant's <a href="https://cryptoquant.com/asset/btc/chart/flow-indicator/exchange-whale-ratio?exchange=all_exchange&amp;window=DAY&amp;sma=0&amp;ema=0&amp;priceScale=log&amp;metricScale=linear&amp;chartStyle=line" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">chart</a> tracking the ratio of whale transfers to exchanges, which stood at 0.99 at press time.&nbsp;
<img alt="" height="772" src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-2002.png" width="1691">
Bitcoin: Exchange Whale Ratio - all exchanges, year-to-date chart. Source: CryptoQuant
A high exchange ratio means that whales account for a disproportionate share of inflows, which is “historically a bearish signal” as these large deposits are more likely to precede significant sell orders than routine retail activity, according to the analytics platform.&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/strategy-sells-bitcoin-bernstein-btc-target" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Strategy sells 3,588 Bitcoin for $216M to fund dividends, keeps $2.55B reserve intact</a>&nbsp;
The whale transfers may add to the persistent Bitcoin selling pressure from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) holders.
<img alt="" height="738" src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-2003.png" width="1123">
Bitcoin ETF Flow (USD, million). Source: Farside Investors
US-traded spot Bitcoin <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-etfs-draw-197m-snap-8-week-outflow-streak" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETFs registered $197 million</a> in net weekly inflows leading up to Friday, but saw $4.51 billion in net outflows in June, marking their worst month on record, according to Farside Investors <a href="https://farside.co.uk/btc/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a>.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/features/bitcoin-is-approaching-the-second-half-of-the-bear-market-jamie-coutts" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin nearing late stages of bear market: Jamie Coutts, Real Vision</a>

Bitcoin whale moves $188M for first time in 7 years

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Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Jul 13, 2026

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