A massive withdrawal has just rocked the crypto space, and one popular USD-based cryptocurrency exchange in particular. The talk is of a staggering 7,002 BTC, equivalent to around $578,646,289, leaving Kraken in an unknown direction.
It is not every day that over half a billion dollars in Bitcoin (BTC) leaves the major U.S. exchange in a single move, so it is important to know why and where this incredible stash of BTC is being moved.
Arman ShirinyanWhile Whale Alert's initial message only reveals that the wallet that received a transaction is unknown, Arkham's data offers a bit more information about address "bc1qx85."
As seen in the on-chain data, these 7,002 BTC are the largest receipts by the wallet in its entire history. Three weeks ago, to be exact, this address received a small fraction of Bitcoin worth just $100 from the very same Kraken exchange.
Interestingly, after receiving this initial transaction, the wallet made a transfer of its own to Kraken. What's more, these two transfers were made in both directions with the exchange's cold wallet.
Gamza KhanzadaevRecent transfers have also been made from the cold wallet — not the deposit address, or even Kraken's hot storage. This leads to the idea that the wallet belongs to the platform, and not to some large investor who decided to withdraw Bitcoin from Kraken.
Alex DovbnyaIt is difficult to agree that this perspective significantly diminishes the significance of this transfer. In the common sense of market participants, massive withdrawals from centralized exchanges are seen as "someone big bought a lot of Bitcoin and is now withdrawing to their own cold storage."
Unfortunately, this time, it appears to be nothing more than an internal Kraken shuffle.
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin