Did Roger Ver move 80,000 BTC?

Source Cryptopolitan

Eight connected wallets moved a total of 80,000 BTC in the past day. As the billion-dollar wallets shifted their coins to new addresses, speculations arose about the holder’s identity. 

On July 4, whale watchers intercepted two notable transactions from old BTC wallets. The transactions were linked to the same entity, moving a total of 20,000 BTC within hours. The coins moved just as BTC was hovering above $109,000, expecting a new potential price record. 

Later, the OG whale moved all other related wallets, while closely watched by on-chain analysts. A total of 80,000 BTC has been transferred to new wallets so far, with no signs that the whale would be ready to sell.

Whale moves a total of 80,000 BTC after 14 years of dormancy
The wallet cluster identified as belonging to one early whale was finally emptied | Source: Mempool.space

The 14-year holding also suggested the owner held a strong conviction and would sell in a way that would not crash the market. The size of the holdings is also suitable for a BTC treasury, which would put the owner ahead of Mara Holdings and just behind Strategy (MSTR).

After the initial two transactions moved the coins, the rest were shifted more quickly, in the end emptying the original 14-year-old wallets of their final 10,000 BTC. Some of the coins moved today were acquired in April 2011 at $0.78 per BTC. Other wallets were funded at a price of $3.37. The current price of all coins moved today is above $8.6B

Did Roger Ver move 80,000 BTC?

On-chain analysts suggest the whale may be none other than Roger Ver, who showed early belief in the long-term future of BTC. 

Ver was arrested in Spain for misleading tax filings and, in January, pleaded with US President Donald Trump to avoid extradition. One of the hypotheses is that Ver may have to use some of the BTC to achieve a plea deal. If true, then Ver must have kept significant BTC reserves while shilling Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Since the wallets were created before the BCH fork, the owner must also hold 80,000 BTC and other forked coins. 

Others suggested that Ver had spent most of his original 600K BTC and that the transfers went to the wallets of the US Government. The newly created wallets do not point to the identity of the recipient. 

Was the whale an early miner? 

The other hypothesis for the whale is that the wallets were part of the total haul of an early miner, who produced a total of 200,000 BTC. 

The coins moved today, if acquired at their respective market prices, would only amount to $250,000. 

The whale achieved the biggest daily move for coins aged over 10 years. Previously, the record was for 3.7K BTC from the same age band. Older miners and whales are seen as the most reliable holders, as the old cohorts may also contain inaccessible wallets. Older miners have moved coins from the earliest wallets, dating back to 2010, though at a much smaller scale. 

For now, it remains uncertain whether the moved coins would enter the market in some way. Even 80,000 BTC may be absorbed relatively quickly with the expansion of BTC treasury companies and renewed ETF buying. 

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Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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