Bitcoin reclaims $116k despite $3.5b Galaxy Digital dump

Bitcoin is slowly recovering from its earlier dip, despite a massive sell-off that threatened to push losses deeper.

Over the past 24 hours, Galaxy Digital has moved nearly 30,000 BTC (BTC) out of its wallets. According to blockchain intelligence platform Lookonchain, the asset shuffle, worth around $3.5 billion at current prices, began in waves, and the majority of it landed directly on exchanges. 

10,000 BTC was first deposited across top exchanges like Binance, OKX, and Bybit, followed by another 2,850 BTC just hours later. Blockchain data confirms that shortly after those deposits, Galaxy began pulling stablecoins in exchange. 

Roughly $370 million USDT (USDT) was withdrawn after the first batch, and so far, the firm has moved a total of $1.15 billion USDT off exchanges, suggesting the BTC had been sold.

Galaxy’s movements weren’t entirely unexpected. The transfers follow earlier signs tied to a Satoshi-era whale wallet that reemerged in early July after more than a decade of dormancy. As previously reported by crypto.news, the whale shifted nearly half of its 80,000 BTC into new wallets, and another 40,000 of that landed in Galaxy Digital-controlled addresses.

At first, the shufles looked like a routine wallet upgrade. But once large chunks started flowing to exchanges, the selling plans became clear. While the sales initially raised fears of deeper losses as Bitcoin was already slipping, the market held up.

Bitcoin bounces back

Bitcoin is trading around $116,000 at the time of writing. While still down 1.6% on the day, its current price marks a recovery from earlier lows near $114,700.

The rebound in price comes alongside a fresh boost from Bitcoin ETFs, which broke a three-day outflow streak with about $227 million in net inflows during the latest session.

Meanwhile, Galaxy Digital still holds about 18,500 BTC, and about 12,000 BTC, roughly $1.38 billion, from the 80,000 BTC whale remains untouched, suggesting more sales could follow.

But according to on-chain tracker EmberCN, the sales so far have been a mix of secondary market and over-the-counter transactions. This means that with liquidity holding up and most of the sell pressure already absorbed, the final wave is expected to have minimal impact on prices.