Grayscale’s 4,000 Bitcoin Transfer Worth $175M Stirs Market Speculation Amid Record ETF Trading Volume

Recent blockchain analytics reveal that 4,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $175 million, have been transferred from addresses believed to be controlled by Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, commonly referred to as GBTC. Records indicate that these transfers occurred in four separate batches of 1,000 bitcoins each, directed towards Coinbase.

Arkham Data Shows Flagged Grayscale Wallets Sent 4,000 Bitcoin to Coinbase

The financial world is currently abuzz, especially following the debut of the new spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which saw a staggering $4.6 billion in trading volume on its first day. Concurrently, bitcoin’s value has experienced a 5.5% decline relative to the U.S. dollar. Amidst these market movements, it was observed on Friday that Grayscale’s reserves diminished by 4,000 BTC, equivalent to $175 million based on the prevailing exchange rates.

While there is no absolute confirmation of the specific addresses Grayscale uses for its BTC holdings, Arkham Intelligence had previously identified the company’s wallets in September 2023. Arkham’s analysis at that time highlighted that the trust’s bitcoin assets were dispersed “across [more than] 1,750 different addresses, with each holding no more than 1,000 [bitcoin].”

Screenshot of the transfers via Arkham’s platform.

On Friday, the blockchain analytics and explorer service, Arkham, took to social media to post “Arkham Data. Where else can you watch ETF assets being settled in real-time?” This post was accompanied by a link to the identified Grayscale wallets, sparking further interest in the matter. Social media rapidly buzzed with the unfolding news. One user commented on platform X:

Looks like Wall Street finally has enough exit liquidity from the ETF news cycle to dump their bags now.

As of the latest update, Arkham’s tracking of identified wallets indicates that Grayscale manages 621,853 BTC, valued at $27 billion. Furthermore, Arkham’s data reveals that Grayscale possesses 2.9 million Ethereum (ETH).

Screenshot of Grayscale’s GBTC web portal on Jan. 12, 2024.

However, as of Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, Grayscale’s official website states that their bitcoin holdings amount to 619,162 BTC. Arkham’s records show that the last movement of funds from Grayscale’s wallets occurred two weeks ago, with the destination being Coinbase.

Although these funds are being transferred to Coinbase, it’s not definitive whether they are being sold or if Coinbase is merely reassigning them to different addresses for custody purposes. Despite the lack of certainty, many speculators on social media often infer that such transfers are indicative of sales. While this could be the case, it is important to note that there is no concrete evidence to confirm these assumptions.

Data further indicates that more than $3 billion was traded across all spot bitcoin ETFs on Friday, with GBTC, Blackrock’s IBIT, and Bitwise’s BITB at the forefront of this activity. In an update to his followers on the social media platform X, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart clarified that the total net inflows amounted to $655 million.

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