Bitcoin (BTC) Whales Pull $770 Million Through Wintermute Since October 1

40 New Wallets Moved $770 Million

Bitcoin (BTC) whales have kept accumulating through one of the weakest stretches of the Bitcoin price this quarter, and the on-chain record from October shows where those coins have gone. Data from the analytics platform Lookonchain shows that 40 newly created wallets withdrew more than $770 million worth of Bitcoin since October 1, with every withdrawal routed through the market-making firm Wintermute. The structure of the flow matters as much as its size: 40 addresses spun up inside three weeks, each funded through a single intermediary, is the footprint of one coordinated accumulation program rather than 40 unrelated buyers. Wintermute, a trading firm that carries deep inventories across venues, passed the coins out of its books and into wallets created this month. What the record does not show is the final placement, whether the new wallets feed trading balances, a custody arrangement or cold storage, and that gap limits what the flow alone proves about intent, a point that matters when the wallets are days old and the coins inside them have not moved again. Even so, the scale stands out: more than $770 million moved in under three weeks while the spot market drifted lower, and the withdrawals show no sign of slowing as of this week. The counterparty side is telling as well, because routing through Wintermute suggests the coins were sourced from market inventory rather than sold as one negotiated block, so the selling was absorbed across the market's plumbing instead of by a single holder. That is the kind of absorption associated with a patient bid, and it explains why the whale footprint has kept growing even as screens showed weakness through the first weeks of the quarter.

Three Million BTC and a Stubborn Ceiling

The October withdrawals extend a longer Bitcoin accumulation run that the on-chain data had already flagged. Figures published by CryptoQuant in mid-October showed whales returning to net buying after months of selling, lifting combined holdings above 3 million Bitcoin (BTC), the highest level since November 21, 2025. Earlier this week, the analytics firm Santiment recorded large holders buying roughly 89,000 BTC in a single month, a reading that matches the fresh-wallet flow in direction if not in accounting method. The market, however, has refused to confirm any of it. After hopes for a strong October, the price hit the $87,000 resistance level twice, failed both times, and dropped to $80,200, a one-month low. The recovery to $85,000 earlier this week then faded fast: within the following 36 hours the price shed more than $3,000, and it now trades below $82,000. Our Bitcoin technical analysis work keeps the emphasis on that ceiling rather than the floor, because a market that cannot hold an $85,000 reclaim is telling participants something about supply overhead. If the whale bid were the only force at work, a $3,000 giveback inside a day and a half would be hard to explain. Two constraints sit behind the disconnect. United States inflation pressure has kept risk appetite tight, and the circulating supply of USDT, the dollar stablecoin that carries most new money into crypto, has been shrinking, which narrows the pipeline for fresh liquidity. Our earlier coverage arguing that new USDT supply until 2027 remains the gating factor treats the constraint as structural rather than cyclical, and a brokerage range of $78,000 to $85,000 set ahead of the next FOMC meeting reflects the same read.

Demand Without a Liquidity Engine

The October data splits this market into two stories that do not agree. One is accumulation with a reserve character: wallets built to hodl through drawdowns rather than flip supply, behavior closer to a strategic Bitcoin reserve than to a trading book. The other is a price that lacks the liquidity to answer, held down by inflation and a shrinking stablecoin float. Whales can set a floor, but on this record they have not been able to set a direction, and until USDT supply turns or macro pressure eases, the gap between 3 million Bitcoin (BTC) in whale hands and a sub-$82,000 tape is the fact to watch. Our earlier note flagging a $73,000 key level before the November 3 midterms frames the downside risk if the $85,000 ceiling rejects the market again.