- Bitcoin whales are still selling their Bitcoin holdings even as the BTC price holds steady at $23,000.
- MicroStrategy transfers over 130,000 BTC to various exchanges.
Whale stats data show a different sign to Bitcoin price, which has held steady at $23,000 for some time. Per multiple metrics, Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy is the largest institutional holder of Bitcoin. Recent crypto quant data hint that the business intelligence service provider may be quietly dumping some of its Bitcoin holdings. However, the company would likely include this selling activity in a later earnings report.
MicroStrategy sells 132,382 Bitcoins
Data from blockchain analytics firm, CryptoQuant, claims that MicroStrategy’s main wallet has sold 132,382 BTC. The data said this wallet (1p5zedwtktfgxqjzphgwpqupe554wkdfhq) belongs to Michael Saylor’s firm. Various data suggest that MicroStrategy stores all its BTC in 2 single sig addresses.
Between Monday and Thursday this week, the MicroStrategy wallet mentioned above transferred BTC to multiple exchange wallets such as Coinbase. The CryptoQuant data also claims that the business intelligence service firm sold each BTC for $21,687.
Related: MicroStrategy risks margin call as BTC tanks under $21,000, El Salvador denies any financial risk
Saylor or anyone close to the matter hasn’t confirmed or denied the transaction. Hence, many are unclear whether MicroStrategy’s Bitcoins transfers were to receive fiat, for custody, or for another purpose. Saylor’s silence is a surprise given its outspokenness about his company’s moves. Also, he has been one of the biggest advocates of the leading digital asset in the last couple of years.
The intent to sell?
On July 19, he still supported Bitcoin, tweeting that Bitcoin holders shouldn’t sell their holdings. He even added that the world now needs money that won’t crash. Thus, suggesting that Bitcoin is a monetary tool that cannot crash.
If the transfer of the BTC is for selling purposes, MicroStrategy’s actions would have a huge negative impact on the Bitcoin and wider crypto market. Nevertheless, Bitcoin rose almost 12 percent in the last seven days. Coinmarketcap data shows that Bitcoin (BTC) currently trades at $22,857. It is down 1.57 percent in the last 24 hours. BTC’s current price is a good improvement compared to its price at the start of the month.
The leading digital asset was trading at the $18,883 level at the start of this month. Aggressive interest rate increases continue to have a huge negative effect on the crypto market. The decline in the crypto market means MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin investment is in huge unrealized losses.
Estimates show that the loss should be more than $1 billion. The firm bought its Bitcoins at an average price of $30,700 but still has 129,918 Bitcoin holdings despite the rumored selling spree this week. Some industry analysts believe that Tesla’s sale of most of its BTC holdings may have triggered a domino sale among institutional Bitcoin holders.
Recall that Tesla announced on Friday, July 22, that it had sold 75 percent of its Bitcoin holdings. The Bitcoin and crypto market has been moving downwards since the Tesla announcement.
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