Bitcoin’s price struggled to regain momentum last week, hovering just above the $100,000 threshold after a turbulent start to November. The entire market sentiment is somewhat fragile due to heavy selling pressure from major holders, and on-chain data points to major whale moves potentially contributing to the downtrend.
High-profile entities, including the Winklevoss Twins’ Gemini Custody portfolios and early Bitcoin miner Owen Gunden, have emerged as major players in this wave of trades that could influence Bitcoin’s recent price action.
Winklevoss twins move millions in BTC from Gemini custody
According to blockchain factsPortfolios linked to Winklevoss Capital and Gemini Custody have consistently transferred large amounts of Bitcoin in recent months in an ongoing deliberate adjustment of their holdings.
These moves have occurred in several phases, often involving large transactions that appear to happen at the right time. The latest transaction stands out and shows that 250 BTC, worth approximately $25.45 million at current prices, was moved to a Gemini hot wallet several hours ago.
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If these transfers correspond to sales, it would mean that the twins have methodically emptied their Bitcoin positions over time rather than engaging in sudden bulk liquidations. Cumulatively, they have now effectively liquidated over 9,000 BTC since the beginning of 2025, equivalent to approximately $900 million. This has caused their holdings to drop from around 24,000 BTC earlier this year to less than 16,000 BTC now.
Bitcoin OG Owen Gunden Moves Final Assets to Exchanges
Another big wallet drawing attention belongs to Owen Gunden, an early Bitcoin miner and Genesis creditor. Data from an on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain reveals that Gunden recently initiated large transfers totaling 3,549 BTC (approximately $361.8 million) in a single transaction eight hours ago.
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The move tracks previous transactions this week, including 3,601 BTC ($372.1 million) sent a day earlier. Notably, approximately 600 BTC from these transfers, worth over $61 million, have already been deposited into Kraken, signaling a possible liquidation.
These moves have reduced Gunden’s total holdings from around 11,000 BTC to almost zero. Such large transfers into exchange-linked portfolios often precede sell orders, adding to short-term selling pressure.
The Gunden transfers, alongside similar major movements like those of the Winklevoss twins, are among the many whale selling events recorded in November that have contributed to Bitcoin’s continued selling pressure. This trend is evident in the broader institutional market, where US-based Spot Bitcoin ETFs have also seen continued outflows. Data shows Friday ended last week with a balance of $558.44 million from this money.
The combined effect of these whale movements presents a worrying outlook for Bitcoin’s short-term trend. This weekend, however, it was marked by another green weekend for Bitcoin.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $106,270, up 4.4% in the past 24 hours. This follows a series of green weekends over the past four weeks, which were immediately reversed the following Monday.
Featured image of Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com