Mystery Whale Sells $576M in Bitcoin as BTC Nears $80,000

A mystery whale sold another 2,700 BTC (about $211.8 million) earlier today, pushing its three-day total to 7,700 BTC (roughly $576.6 million). The selling lands just as bitcoin trades within reach of $80,000, capping its strongest weekly rally in years.

WRITTEN BYShiraz Jagati
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Published:Aug 22, 2026, 4:01 PM EDT

Key Takeaways

• A whale sold 7,700 BTC (about $576.6 million) between August 19 and 22.
• Bitcoin currently trades near $77,000, up more than 20% for the week.
• The sale follows a 43,000 BTC whale accumulation wave that ended last week.

Whale Offloads $577 Million in Three Days

An unidentified wallet sold 2,700 BTC worth roughly $211.8 million at current prices in a single transaction hours ago, pushing the individual’s three-day haul to 7,700 BTC, worth about $576.6 million. The disposal comes as bitcoin trades within striking distance of $80,000, a level the asset nearly touched overnight before slipping back to around $77,000.

Large holders often use sharp rallies to realize profits, though onchain data alone cannot confirm whether that is what is happening here. It can only show that coins moved and, in many cases, where they landed.

That said, the whale’s selling has done little to slow bitcoin’s advance so far as the asset jumped double digits over the last couple of days to complete its strongest weekly rally since 2024. Prices climbed as high as $79,500 during the week before easing back toward current levels.

The rally traces back to a U.S. Treasury announcement that it would at least double its long-dated bond buyback operations, from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation, effective September 9. The move compressed long-end Treasury yields and pushed investors toward risk assets, including bitcoin, as safer fixed-income returns became less attractive by comparison.

A Reversal From Weeks of Accumulation

This week’s sale marks a shift from the pattern seen just days earlier when Bitcoin.com News reported that large holders added roughly 43,000 BTC, worth about $2.75 billion, over a 60-day stretch ending in mid-August (a buying wave that ended months of steady whale selling and coincided with bitcoin’s slide toward $60,000). That accumulation, concentrated among both mega-whales and mid-sized holders often called dolphins, helped set the stage for the rally now underway.

Moreover, it bears mentioning that a separate whale sold 7,513 BTC worth about $486.9 million over a three-week span ending August 9, once again offering up a reminder that large-holder distribution has continued in pockets even as bitcoin’s broader trend has turned bullish.

With bitcoin flirting now with $80,000 and the Treasury’s expanded buyback program not taking effect until September 9, traders will likely be looking out for two specific catalysts moving forward, i.e.:

• Whether more large holders follow this whale’s lead and sell into strength
• Whether renewed institutional demand, from ETFs and elsewhere, is enough to absorb that supply
• How that balance shakes out is likely to decide bitcoin’s next move.

Bitcoin Whales Add 43,000 BTC, Ending Months-Long Selling Spree

Large bitcoin holders added roughly 43,000 BTC worth about $2.75 billion over the past 60 days ending…

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Bitcoin (BTC)Bitcoin PriceBullishUS Treasury

Source: news.bitcoin.com