Bitcoin (BTC) Whales Accumulate 19,610 BTC After Coldcard Exploit

Bitcoin News

Bitcoin (BTC) whales used a security-driven selloff as an accumulation window, adding 19,610 BTC since July 29 while smaller holders retreated, according to on-chain data. Wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC lifted their combined balance by 0.14%, a broad pattern rather than a single address moving coins. At the same time, accounts below 0.01 BTC cut balances by 0.55%, showing that retail-sized wallets were the net sellers. The shift followed reports of a firmware entropy weakness affecting Coldcard hardware wallets, where poor randomness can weaken private-key generation. The incident’s estimated damage was about 1,360 BTC, worth roughly $87 million, although the situation remains unresolved. Broader profitability metrics have also softened, with the share of supply in profit near cyclical lows and stop-loss activity rising. Selling pressure also came from short-term holders, who sent about 32,000 BTC to exchanges at a loss in a single day — the largest such capitulation over the past 30 days. Not all exchange inflows become immediate sells, but this type of flow often signals defensive positioning. For Bitcoin, the split between large-wallet accumulation and small-wallet fear is the central signal: longer-horizon capital is absorbing supply into a bear market phase marked by fragile confidence.

The price action suggests traders are looking past the wallet security incident for now. Bitcoin rebounded toward $64,000 during Asian hours Tuesday after slipping to roughly $62,250 on Monday, recovering the $63,000 level that had changed hands several times over the prior three sessions. The move placed the largest cryptocurrency up about 2% over 24 hours and 1% on the week, while a fourth wave of sweeps tied to the affected firmware moved about 449 BTC across 709 addresses. That overhang has not been fully resolved, yet spot bids returned quickly each time price approached the lower end of the recent range. Broader majors were mixed but mostly stable, with altcoin leaders such as BNB posting modest weekly gains and ether lagging. Equities offered a cautious backdrop after Asian indexes declined, but futures strength in U.S. technology names limited spillover risk. The key short-term question is whether Bitcoin can keep $63,000 as support through the U.S. session. A third failure around that zone would imply weaker demand below $62,500 and could turn the current rebound into another range rejection rather than a durable recovery. A sustained break above $64,000 would improve near-term momentum, while repeated rejections would keep sellers in control.

A separate on-chain signal added to the security narrative: a wallet labeled 18TExP, dormant since 2013, moved 500 BTC worth about $31.3 million on Monday. The coins were worth roughly $500,000 when they last moved more than 12 years ago, and the transfer was interpreted by analysts as a defensive migration to a new address after the Coldcard vulnerability became public. This was not an isolated event. Spent-output age data show a sudden rise in old-coin activity immediately after the incident began on July 30. Coins dormant for a decade or more saw about 935 BTC move on Aug. 3, the largest one-day total since March 20, while coins dormant for five to seven years showed an even larger burst of roughly 6,388 BTC on July 31. Old coins can move for routine reasons such as estate planning, custody consolidation or exchange operations, so the motive cannot be confirmed from addresses alone. Still, the clustering of long-idle balances moving within days of a self-custody exploit points to proactive risk management by early holders. For Bitcoin, such migrations matter because they can reduce perceived sell pressure if funds move to safer storage rather than exchanges, especially for coins tied to cycles before the asset’s later all-time-high phases.

COINOTAG’s proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine rates Bitcoin’s $63,712 support at 73/100, driven by Fibo 0.236 and SMA-50 confluence, while the $63,953 flip resistance scores 75/100 from R1 and SMA-20 overlays. With spot trading near $63,765, price is compressed between these strong levels. Derivatives show 0.0050% funding, $12.74 billion open interest and a 1.50 long/short ratio, indicating longs remain favored but not aggressively crowded. Fear and Greed at 25 signals extreme fear, leaving room for contrarian rebounds. A close above $63,953 could expose $66,879, while losing $63,712 would open $61,520 and invalidate the bullish reclaim thesis.