Galaxy Digital’s Bitcoin Holdings See Massive Movement
Galaxy Digital has been making significant moves in the cryptocurrency space, with over 17,000 BTC being routed to major exchanges in the past 24 hours. This amounts to more than $1.7 billion at current prices and involves deposits to Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Bitstamp. These transactions follow a series of internal transfers from the firm’s primary custodian address.
In just a span of two days, between July 15 and 17, Galaxy Digital’s Bitcoin holdings surged from approximately $850 million to over $6 billion. This surge was a result of consolidating 80,000 BTC from legacy wallets that had been inactive since 2011. Some of these wallets were previously identified by CryptoSlate as having made a staggering 14,000,000% profit.
On-chain data reveals that the majority of these funds were transferred in large-volume transactions, including a single 10,000 BTC deposit, which analysts believe is part of a custodial arrangement. After remaining static for several days, Galaxy Digital began moving these newly acquired Bitcoins to exchange wallets.
According to Cauê Oliveira of BlockTrends, institutional selling activity was detected early on Thursday morning, with a net outflow of 40,000 BTC from large player wallets over seven days. This, combined with minimal book liquidity, raised concerns about potential downward pressure on Bitcoin’s price if further distribution were to occur in thin order books.
As a result, Bitcoin’s price has dipped approximately 2.5% in the last 24 hours, trading around $115,600 at the time of writing. With daily volume exceeding $94 billion, traders are responding to the increased sell-side pressure.
Analysts have noted that a portion of Galaxy’s outgoing Bitcoin is being sent to exchange hot wallets in staggered batches, a pattern typically associated with distribution rather than custody migration. The origin wallets, dormant since 2012, began transferring the 80,000 BTC on July 4, with the final tranche arriving on July 18. While the receiving addresses point to Galaxy, the firm has yet to confirm the beneficiary or the purpose of the transactions.
Galaxy Digital, known for handling assets on behalf of institutional clients, appears to be strategically unwinding its position. With over 60,000 BTC still in its possession, the firm has the option to continue selling assets or return them to cold storage. Analysts are closely monitoring on-chain indicators to determine if this selling trend will persist.
Update: According to Sani from Timechainindex, only 10,000 BTC remain in Galaxy Digital’s holdings, with the rest being sent to exchanges for sale. The total value of the approximately 70,000 Bitcoin sold now stands at around $8 billion.
As Galaxy Digital continues to make waves in the cryptocurrency market, the industry is watching closely to see how these strategic moves will impact the overall landscape.