- Four Bitcoin wallets moved 1,971 BTC that had been untouched since 2016, with the coins now worth around US$171 million.
- The BTC was originally bought for around US$652, representing gains of roughly 12,000%.
- Ki Young Ju argues that Bitcoin’s growing size and institutional base are making its market cycles less extreme.
- US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded huge inflows this week, including almost US$1 billion on Monday, while BlackRock’s IBIT led the way.
An investigation by Galaxy Research has revealed that Bitcoin whales are on the move. A total of four wallets have moved 1,971 Bitcoin worth around US$171 million (AU$240 million) at current market rates. The moves occurred between 6 September and 22 September, with the BTC untouched since 2016. The coins had been bought for around US$652 (AU$918), resulting in a gain of around 12,000%.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades for US$86,939 (AU$122,396), a 2% gain over the past 24 hours and 14.9% over the past week.
While the moves are interesting, they do not necessarily mean that someone is selling their BTC. Sometimes owners are simply moving coins into new custody or consolidating wallets. Analyst Ki Young Ju, founder of CryptoQuant, actually believes “OG whales have stopped selling”.
In a post on X, he argued that Bitcoin’s growing size and institutional base are moderating both its booms and busts, meaning that this cycle likely brings a moderate multi-fold gain and a gentler pullback rather than a blowout rally followed by a crash.
On-chain metrics like holder profitability, realised capitalisation growth, and whale positioning support this shift, which he frames as Bitcoin maturing towards the stable, money-like asset Satoshi originally envisioned.
Read more: Bitmine Nears 6 Million ETH as Strategy and Strive Pile Back into Bitcoin
ETFs See Massive Start to Trading Week
Meanwhile, US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen a few ripper days. After initial outflows in the first half of last week, they finished strongly with US$628.5 million (AU$884.56 million) in net inflows on Thursday and Friday.
Monday saw a whopping US$999 million (AU$1.4 billion) in net inflows, while Tuesday saw US$714.7 million (AU$1 billion) in net inflows.
Huge days, but not the largest net flows in history. Following Trump’s re-election in 2024, US$1,373.8 million (AU$1,933.51 million) flowed into the US ETFs on 7 November 2024 – the single largest flow recorded. Although impressive, Monday’s figures are not even among the five biggest inflow days. Still, the almost US$1 billion in inflows is the largest haul since October 2025.
Once again, BlackRock’s IBIT was the biggest beneficiary. The fund saw over US$1 billion in net inflows over the past four trading days.
Read also: Polymarket Targeted in $10M Fraud Attempt as Compliance Concerns Mount, WSJ Reports
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