New Theories Emerge on Billion-Dollar Bitcoin Whale Movements

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New theories on who is behind a series of giant Bitcoin transfers are emerging.

The CEO of Singapore-based investment management firm Three Arrows Capital says he believes the transfers may have been triggered by the crypto custody platform Xapo, which is reportedly in acquisition talks with Coinbase. According to BitInfoCharts, one of the transfers did involve a Xapo wallet.

Another theory on Medium shot to the front page of the cryptocurrency subreddit. It analyzes the timing of the transfers and also points to the company Tether as the likely whale.

The “pseudonymous crypto analyst” Fiach Dubh notes that the transfers happened while the New York Supreme Court was determining if a case against Tether can move forward. In addition, Tether announced the launch of its stablecoin on the Liquid network, which supports confidential transactions, while the massive whale movements were in motion.

We're excited to announce the launch of the industry's largest stablecoin, Tether (USDt), on the #LiquidNetwork. As an upgrade to $USDt's original platform, Liquid provides fast settlement times, #ConfidentialTransactions, & robust multisig security. 🌊⛓️ https://t.co/0Gs8QzCwwk pic.twitter.com/yah8AosGNL

— Blockstream (@Blockstream) July 29, 2019

According to Dubh, Tether may be setting aside a sizeable chunk of its Bitcoin to deposit on the Liquid network, where it could be harder for the outside world to track.

You can check out the full post here.

Since yesterday’s big Bitcoin movements, whales have been relatively quiet, aside from two large transfers from the crypto exchange BitMEX to unknown wallets. The transfers moved 4,966 BTC worth about $47 million.