Bitcoin whales move $771.5M from Wintermute as buying claims spread

Bitcoin whale accumulation claims have gathered momentum after Lookonchain reported that 40 newly created wallets withdrew 9,458 BTC, valued at $771.5 million, from Wintermute since Oct. 1.

Lookonchain described the transfers as whale accumulation, pointing to Bitcoin moving from the market maker into fresh addresses throughout the month.

Market commentator Ash Crypto shared a similar assessment on Oct. 24, putting the month’s whale accumulation at $780 million. His post included a transaction list showing several large Bitcoin transfers from wallets labeled Wintermute, with individual movements valued at more than $20 million.

“Smart money is buying fear,” Ash Crypto wrote.

Bitcoin withdrawals bring large holders into focus

The transaction list shared by Ash Crypto showed movements of 306.314 BTC and 307.77 BTC, valued at approximately $24.94 million and $25.06 million, respectively. Other entries included transfers of 364.286 BTC worth close to $29.7 million.

Several smaller transactions appeared alongside those movements. The list included a 140.5 BTC transfer valued at $11.44 million, a 237.245 BTC movement worth $19.32 million and another 177.67 BTC transfer valued at $15.06 million.

Lookonchain’s tally covered withdrawals made since Oct. 1, placing the activity across several weeks rather than a single transaction. The tracker counted 40 receiving wallets, without identifying how many investors controlled them.

At the reported valuation, the 9,458 BTC holdings were worth approximately $81,571 per coin. The figure represents the implied price used to value the transfers, rather than the recipients’ confirmed average purchase price.

Ash Crypto’s $780 million estimate was $8.5 million higher than Lookonchain’s valuation, a difference of roughly 1.1%.

Large-wallet accumulation had attracted attention during September’s recovery as well. In September coverage of Bitcoin’s whale accumulation, analyst Ali Martinez estimated that large entities added 30,269 BTC over a 96-hour period, worth approximately $2.57 billion at the prices used in his calculation.

His observation covered a retreat from roughly $87,400 to $82,800. A separate Santiment dataset cited in the same coverage showed wallets holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC adding 113,950 BTC between July 15 and Sep. 23, bringing their combined holdings to approximately 5.24 million BTC.

A $2.6 billion daily inflow draws a cautious response

While Ash Crypto described the Wintermute withdrawals as buying during a period of fear, market commentator Lucky pointed to a separate movement that he viewed more cautiously.

In an Oct. 24 post, Lucky cited 32,380 BTC, worth around $2.6 billion, entering the market in a single day. He described it as the largest daily inflow since April and attached a Coinglass chart showing Bitcoin wallet inflows and outflows alongside the asset’s price.

Lucky recalled that a previous inflow spike of a similar size had preceded a Bitcoin market peak by several weeks. He stopped short of predicting the same outcome.

“I’m not saying we’re about to see the same thing happen again, but when billions are moving and history gives us a similar setup, it’s hard to ignore.”

The chart displayed green bars for inflows and red bars for outflows, with a large green reading appearing near the end of the series. Lucky’s daily observation covered a different period from Lookonchain’s tally of withdrawals since the beginning of October.

Wintermute-linked trading has previously included large shorts

Wintermute-linked accounts have drawn attention on derivatives markets alongside the Bitcoin transfers tracked by blockchain analysts.

On Sep. 28, crypto.news reported $126.25 million in shorts on Hyperliquid attributed by Onchain Lens to an address linked to the market maker. Ethereum represented the largest reported position at $46.92 million, followed by $11.30 million in Solana and $10.03 million in HYPE.

Onchain Lens put the account’s unrealized profit at approximately $963,600 when the snapshot was taken. Wintermute had not publicly confirmed ownership of the address or explained the purpose of the positions.

The September coverage noted that market makers can use perpetual futures to hedge spot holdings, options, customer transactions or positions carried on other venues.

An analysis cited in that report found the same account placing orders on both sides of market-making books. A January snapshot showed approximately $101.7 million in bids and $97.2 million in asks across several assets.

Earlier observations showed changes in the account’s short exposure. Third-party reports placed the total near $146 million on Sep. 20, with Ethereum accounting for close to $53 million and Bitcoin representing approximately $26.7 million.

Bitcoin support-band calls add a technical buying argument

Crypto Rover offered a technical argument for buying Bitcoin in an Oct. 24 post, pointing followers toward the asset’s bull market support band.

His chart showed Bitcoin trading above a shaded moving-average band after recovering from earlier lows. The commentator described contact with the band as a buying opportunity during bull markets.

A separate Oct. 14 technical assessment focused on resistance near $84,000. Martinez identified a four-hour close above the threshold as a condition for a potential advance toward $93,000.

His setup used a 50-period moving average on a four-hour chart. Analyst Daan Crypto Trades identified $83,000 as an important level on Bitcoin’s daily and weekly charts after the asset formed a higher low and recovered from its preceding decline.

Historical US fund-flow figures documented another source of demand during September’s recovery. SoSoValue data cited in September coverage put net inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs at $191 million on Sep. 24, including approximately $163 million into BlackRock’s IBIT and $12.86 million into Fidelity’s FBTC.