Bitcoin Whale Gunden Dumps $1.3B as ETF Demand Soars to 40%
Bitcoin whale Owen Gunden, an early Mt. Gox arbitrage trader, has fully exited his position by selling 11,000 BTC worth about $1.3 billion since Oct. 21, according to Arkham data. The final tranche of 2,499 BTC ($228 million) was transferred to Kraken, coinciding with a drop in CryptoQuant’s Bull Score Index to 20/100, signalling extreme bearish sentiment.
Meanwhile, institutional demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs continues to rise. Recent 13F filings show firms now hold 40% of total US spot ETF assets, up from 27% in Q2 2024, despite $2.8 billion in outflows this November. The divergence between a large BTC sell-off and growing institutional ETF accumulation highlights shifting market dynamics for traders.
Bearish
Large-scale BTC sell-off by whale Owen Gunden introduces significant downward pressure on Bitcoin prices in the short term, amplifying retail panic amid extreme bearish sentiment. CryptoQuant’s bull index slump further underscores negative momentum. Although rising institutional investment in spot Bitcoin ETFs (now at 40%) signals growing long-term confidence and could support price floors over time, the immediate impact of a $1.3 billion BTC dump likely outweighs these gains, leading to a bearish outlook for traders focused on near-term price action.