One of Bitcoin’s Earliest Billionaires Moved $130M In BTC To Hot Wallets, Sparking Sell Speculation

Blockchain data shows many recent transactions between Gemini's custodial wallets and the VanEck HODL Bitcoin ETF, signaling liquidity management.

• Winklevoss twins transferred about $130 million worth of Bitcoin to wallets linked to their crypto exchange Gemini over the past week, according to Arkham data.
• The transfers came from Winklevoss Capital, the twins’ investment firm, with roughly 1,750 BTC moved to Gemini hot wallets across multiple transactions.
• Arkham said the transfers were “presumably to sell,” while estimating the twins still hold about $764 million in Bitcoin with total BTC profits around $1.8 billion.

A number of large Bitcoin (BTC) transfers from wallets linked to the Gemini (GEMI) co-founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, have caught the attention of on-chain analysts. In the last week, about $130 million worth of BTC was moved to the Gemini exchange.

Data from the blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence showed that Winklevoss Capital wallets, the twins’ New York-based family office and venture capital firm, moved about 1,750 BTC to Gemini hot wallets across several transactions last week. 

Sometimes, large transfers to exchange-linked wallets signal a ‘sell', but they could also be for internal fund management or custody operations. The twins own Gemini, so the transfers could just be movements within the company.

Does Transfer Signal A Potential Sell?

Arkham said the transfers were “presumably to sell” on Tuesday, though that has not been confirmed. Arkham also reported that the total profit the Winklevoss twins have made from their Bitcoin holdings stands at about $1.8 billion. Wallets linked to the twins still hold over $764 million worth of Bitcoin.

The Winklevoss twins were among the earliest institutional investors in Bitcoin. They started buying Bitcoin in 2012, when it traded well below $100. After Bitcoin’s dramatic price rally during the 2017 bull market, the brothers were widely recognized as the first “Bitcoin billionaires.”

Gemini (GEMI) was up over 1% in pre-market hours. However, year-to-date, the stock is down over 15%. On Stockwits, the retail sentiment around GEMI remained in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory, as chatter levels around it remained ‘extremely high’ over the past day.

Analyzing VanEck’s Bitcoin Moves

Blockchain data also shows a number of recent transfers between wallets connected to Gemini's custody infrastructure and the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (HODL). Data also show that in the past week, 120.199 BTC and 84.846 BTC were sent from VanEck's Bitcoin ETF address to a Gemini hot wallet, and two separate 141.411 BTC transactions moved from Gemini-linked wallets back to the ETF address. This, on the other hand, is not related to the twins' transaction and appears to be part of the ETF's normal custody or liquidity management of its holdings, with Gemini's custodial wallets holding over $1.1 billion in Bitcoin tied to the fund.

Bitcoin On-Chain Activity Hits Record Lows

The transactions come as Bitcoin’s on-chain activity has hit multi-year lows and the Bitcoin supply on exchanges has dropped sharply over the past month. Whale activity has also been relatively muted, as whales continue to move BTC away from exchanges and into cold wallets to hold it for longer durations. 

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $70,531, up over 3% in the last 24 hours. 

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