Dormant Bitcoin Whale Sends $4.8B to Galaxy Digital, Fueling Speculation of Imminent Sale

$4.8B in Bitcoin Lands at Galaxy Digital as Satoshi-Era Whale Completes 80,000 BTC Transfer

A dormant Bitcoin whale wallet — dating back to the network’s earliest days — has now completed the full transfer of 80,000 BTC to trading desks, with the final 40,191 BTC (~$4.8 billion) sent to Galaxy Digital on Friday. The move strongly hints at an imminent sale.

Arkham Intelligence data shows the final tranche was executed through 15 transactions starting Thursday evening, consolidating coins from four legacy wallets into a Galaxy-tagged address. Notably, this completes a transfer campaign that began on July 4, marking the whale’s first movements since April 2011.

Earlier this week, the same entity moved 40,010 BTC to Galaxy, which has since funneled assets to Coinbase, Bitstamp, Gemini, and several unidentified wallets — a distribution pattern typically associated with OTC desk activity.

While sending crypto to exchanges doesn’t confirm liquidation, it’s a well-watched signal. Long-term holders tend to rely on cold storage, making large exchange-bound flows a potential bearish catalyst.

Galaxy’s wallet now holds 40,288 BTC, with no outbound activity registered since the latest transfer. The event coincides with BTC trading just above $118,000 — close to its recent all-time high — amplifying market expectations that the whale may be positioning to take profits near the peak.