On-chain data shows that a legendary whale who entered the market as early as 2011 has apparently “sold off” all 11,000 Bitcoins he holds, with a total value of up to $1.3 billion. This move occurred when Bitcoin had fallen more than 30% from its all-time high, triggering market panic about an impending bear market, and even industry experts have lowered their target prices for Bitcoin.
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On-chain data shows that a legendary whale who entered the market as early as 2011 has apparently “sold off” all 11,000 Bitcoins he holds, with a total value of up to $1.3 billion. This move occurred when Bitcoin had fallen more than 30% from its all-time high, triggering market panic about an impending bear market, and even industry experts have lowered their target prices for Bitcoin.
According to Arkham Intelligence , wallets associated with early Bitcoin arbitrage trader Owen Gunden have recently seen a sudden surge in fund activity after years of inactivity.
Owen Gunden, who first bought Bitcoin in 2011, was once considered one of the world’s top three cryptocurrency billionaires. Although he has occasionally transferred assets over the years, his actions in the past month have become significantly more frequent, including transferring more than $344 million worth of Bitcoin to the centralized exchange Kraken.
Arkham speculates that this series of asset transfers strongly suggests that Owen Gunden has “sold off” all 11,000 bitcoins he accumulated over the years. However, blockchain tracking has its limits; once funds enter centralized exchanges, they disappear without a trace. While the market interprets this as “profit-taking,” there is also the possibility that Owen Gunden simply transferred the funds to Kraken for custody or used the platform’s staking function to earn passive income.
According to Arkham estimates, Owen Gunden cashed out a total of $1.3 billion, starting from the transfer surge at the end of October. Although he maintains a very low profile online, he is already a legendary figure in the cryptocurrency world due to his early and massive bets on Bitcoin.
Owen Gunden’s 14-year holding period in cryptocurrency is like a history of its rise and fall. His net worth has fluctuated dramatically with market cycles of bull and bear markets.
- 2021 bull market: The value of currency holdings once surged to $936 million;
- The 2022 bear market: assets shrank significantly to $209 million.
As of July 10th of this year, when the price of Bitcoin was $115,000, wallets tracked by Arkham showed that Owen Gunden held approximately $1.4 billion worth of Bitcoin. At that time, he was ranked as the world’s third richest cryptocurrency billionaire, after Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto and Tron founder Justin Sun.
A sell-off by major whales comes amid a period of weak Bitcoin prices. According to CoinGecko data , Bitcoin has plummeted 33.5% from its all-time high of $126,080, reached over a month ago, to $84,520. This sharp correction has raised concerns within the industry that the cryptocurrency market may be entering a bear market.
Faced with market headwinds, institutions have also begun to adjust their expectations:
- Ark Invest: Cathie Wood, known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” recently lowered her Bitcoin price target from $1.5 million to $1.2 million. She believes that the widespread adoption of stablecoins has diminished Bitcoin’s necessity as a payment tool.
- Galaxy Digital: This institutional-grade cryptocurrency financial firm also slashed its year-end price target for Bitcoin from $185,000 to $120,000, citing low market volatility and insufficient momentum to support a return to previous highs.
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