Unknown Bitcoin Wallet Is Third-Largest BTC Holder in World after Collecting More than $3B Worth in Less than 4 Months
Although unknown, many believe the Bitcoin wallet may belong to a major crypto exchange moving money around, or asset manager Blackrock Inc.
An unknown Bitcoin wallet has become the world’s third-largest BTC holder in only over three months. Members of the entire crypto community are now curious about who owns the wallet and why they amassed that much Bitcoin in such a short time.
The mysterious wallet began to collect Bitcoin on the 8th of May, according to BitInfoCharts data. After collecting Bitcoin for three and a half months, the unknown wallet had received $3.08 billion worth of the king coin, a total of 118,000 BTC.
Unsurprisingly, there are a few theories on how the wallet collected that much Bitcoin. While some suggest that the funds belong to a major crypto exchange moving their money around, others believe that BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), the world’s largest asset manager is the likely owner. According to a tweet, the BlackRock suspicion is because the asset manager filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF almost exactly a month after the first major transaction on the 16th of May.
The unknown wallet is now the third-largest, followed by a Binance cold wallet. According to a report, Binance also holds the world’s largest Bitcoin wallet and has been in the number 1 position since March 2021. As of June, the wallet held 248,597, 1.28% of Bitcoin’s total supply. However, another report estimates that Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto is the largest holder, with more than 1 million BTC across several thousand addresses. Satoshi’s identity is still unknown.
Bitcoin Price Movement and Bitcoin ETFs
BlackRock surprised both the traditional and crypto industries when the company submitted an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF in June. BlackRock applied for the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, naming crypto exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) as the Bitcoin custodian and Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) as the custodian for cash.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has never approved a spot Bitcoin ETF. However, many believe several factors, including Ripple’s recent win and the introduction of a bilateral surveillance sharing agreement (SSA), augur well for the crypto industry and the chance of approval. In addition, some analysts believe the SEC may be willing to approve BlackRock, a traditional finance giant, over crypto companies.
Bitcoin is currently trading above $26,000 even though the market is experiencing a widespread sell-off. According to Material Indicators cofounder Keith Alan, Bitcoin’s price may eventually hit $25,000 before an upward rally toward $28,000 or $29,000.
After rising above $27,000 last week, the king coin hit the $26,000 range last Friday. Analysts believe that the plunge came from BTC ETF approval uncertainty and the rise in US interest rates. The 30-year Treasury bond hit 4.42%, the highest point since 2011.
Another factor thought to be affecting Bitcoin is the recent $373 million writedown of SpaceX’s Bitcoin holdings. The company also reportedly sold some of its Bitcoin.
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Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
