A long-term Bitcoin holder who sold $4 billion of his holdings for Ether last month has started selling again as Bitcoin crossed $116,000 for the first time in three weeks.
Two Bitcoin (BTC) wallets tied to an address that had held onto the cryptocurrency for over eight years deposited 1,176 BTC worth over $136 million into the trading platform Hyperliquid on Sunday and “started dumping,” according to Lookonchain on X.
Lookonchain said the wallet had taken a two-week break after it exchanged over $4 billion worth of Bitcoin in the second half of August, nearly 36,000 BTC for Ether (ETH).
Whale movements can hint at where “smart money” interest is shifting. Traders could see their sudden moves after years of inactivity as having a negative impact, as they could unload BTC on the open market and push down prices.
Wallet dumped Bitcoin for Ether
Lookonchain wrote to X on Sept. 1 that the Bitcoin whale it was tracking over the prior two weeks had sold 35,991 BTC, worth over $4 billion at the time, for Ether.
The ETH to BTC ratio has remained relatively flat since, but currently, the whale would lose nearly 460 BTC, worth about $53 million, if they were to swap their ETH holdings back to BTC.
The ETH to BTC ratio has been below 0.05 since July last year and hit its all-time peak in mid-2017 at 0.14. It’s currently at 0.0401, gaining 6% over the past month.
Bitcoin hovers at $116,000 resistance
Meanwhile, Bitcoin has seen resistance at $116,000, a price it reached on Friday for the first time since around three weeks ago on Aug. 23.
Bitcoin has traded flat over the past 24 hours at $115,500, hitting a top of $116,182 and a low of under $115,000, struggling to break well above $116,000.
Related: Bitcoin trader says ‘Time to pay attention’ to $115K BTC price
It’s down 7% from its peak high of over $124,000 on Aug. 14.
Other whale wallets move Bitcoin
The latest Bitcoin whale sales seen by Lookonchain follow other high-value wallets that have sold in the past few weeks.
A wallet that held nearly 445 Bitcoin, which hadn’t made a transaction in almost 13 years, made a transfer on Thursday, sending part of their stash to the crypto exchange Kraken.
Earlier in September, a wallet with nearly 480 Bitcoin also made transfers for the first time since 2012, seemingly only to move their funds to a new address.
Trade Secrets: Bitcoin to see ‘one more big thrust’ to $150K, ETH pressure builds