 
 
Institutional crypto company Galaxy announced Friday that it had liquidated a historic 80,000 Bitcoin — worth around $9.3 billion at the time — for a Satoshi-era BTC investor.
The massive exit prompted prominent crypto analyst Scott Melker to suggest that some early whales are losing faith in Bitcoin (BTC), sparking a heated debate on the X social media platform.
OG Whale Cashes Out $9 Billion Bitcoin
Galaxy said in the Friday statement that the sale was “one of the largest notional Bitcoin transactions in the history of crypto on behalf of a client.” The firm noted that the sale represents “one of the earliest and most significant exits from the digital asset market. The transaction was part of the investor’s broader estate planning strategy.”
An unknown Bitcoin whale awakened from its slumber earlier this month, transferring 80,000 BTC after holding the coins for 14 years, bewildering crypto observers.
For some commentators, it represented a natural redistribution. For others, it was a worrisome sign that even Bitcoin’s earliest believers are exiting.
 
Scott Melker, aka The Wolf of All Street, added fuel to the fire with an astutely articulated post on X.
“Bitcoin is amazing. But it’s obviously been co-opted to some degree by the very people that it was created as a hedge against,” Melker postulated on Saturday. “Many of the most ardent early whales have seen their faith shaken and have been selling at these prices.”
While the pundit acknowledged that he’s not saying he agrees with the reasoning and only “pointing out” what he has been hearing, the comments kicked off a debate over whether Bitcoin’s rising institutional adoption — via spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and corporate treasuries — means the premier crypto has drifted from its cypherpunk roots.
Bitcoin Is “Still Pretty Revolutionary”
Alpine Fox founder and managing partner Mike Alfred noted that he “rarely disagrees” with Melker, but he does in this instance. “People make a personal decision to sell some of all their coins for a myriad of reasons that have nothing to do with the asset or protocol,” Alfred quipped.
“Everyone dies. At some point, investment returns become irrelevant,” he added.
Bitwise Invest chief investment officer Matt Hougan asserted that while he understands Melker’s interpretation, Bitcoin is “still pretty revolutionary.”
“It’s the first global money backed, not by the state and the threat of violence, but by logic and community. “Respect to the early whales, and let’s keep building. The world needs Bitcoin more than ever,” Hougan explained.
When whales snap out of slumber, selling pressure sometimes ensues as investors expect the entity to begin cashing in on their holdings.
Despite Friday’s gargantuan sale, the price of Bitcoin has dipped is up 0.7% over the past day and remains largely unmoved over the past seven days, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. The OG crypto was changing hands at $118,961 — roughly 3.5% below its record high near $123,000.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/one-of-the-biggest-satoshi-era-bitcoin-investors-cashing-out-9-billion-reignites-questions-about-ogs-losing-confidence/