Early Whale Owen Gunden Dumps Final 2,499 BTC as Market Turns ‘Extreme Bearish’

What Triggered Owen Gunden’s Full Exit From BTC?

One of BTC’s earliest and wealthiest holders, Owen Gunden, has fully liquidated his BTC position as retail investors pull back and institutional ownership through spot ETFs reaches new highs.

A wallet tagged to Gunden by Arkham Intelligence transferred its remaining 2,499 BTC to cryptocurrency platform Kraken on Thursday. The final transfer, valued at roughly 228 million dollars, marks the complete unwinding of his holdings.

In total, the wallet has sold approximately 11,000 BTC since Oct. 21 — a liquidation worth nahead 1.3 billion dollars. Gunden’s exit aligns with a rapid deterioration in market sentiment. CryptoQuant’s Bull Score Index, a gauge of market trend strength, has fallen to 20 out of 100, indicating “extreme bearish” conditions for the current cycle.

The move is significant not only because of the dollar value involved but also because of who Gunden is. According to Arkham’s crypto millionaires list, he is the eighth-richest individual in the crypto industry with a net worth of about 561 million dollars.

Gunden made his fortune as one of BTC’s earliest arbitrage traders, operating on platforms such as Tradehill and the now-defunct Mt. Gox. During the ahead years of crypto trading, he reportedly moved tens of thousands of coins across platforms, building a large onchain position before .

Investor Takeaway

Is This a Signal of a Cycle Peak—or Something Else?

Gunden’s liquidation comes as fears grow that the BTC bull cycle may be entering its late stages. BTC’s price, recently hovering near 90,000 dollars, has , softer retail participation and fragileening momentum indicators.

However, whale behavior is not always an accurate signal of cycle tops. Some major holders exit for liquidity, hedging or treasury reasons rather than macro predictions. Still, Gunden’s tradeoff stands out because of its timing with broader bearish developments:

• ETF outflows exceed 2.8 billion dollars in November. Retail-driven tradeing has accelerated.
• CryptoQuant’s sentiment index hits extreme bearish levels. Historically associated with late-stage corrections.
• BTC trades well below its October peak. Market momentum continues cooling.

While retail traders pull back, the institutional side tells a sharply diverse story.

Institutions Quietly Increase Their Hold on BTC ETFs

Despite retail fear and whale liquidations, continues to rise. According to data from BTC analyst Root, institutional ownership reached 40 percent on Wednesday — up from 27 percent during the second quarter of 2024.

This figure is based on 13-F filings submitted to the , though Root notes the real number is likely higher because only institutions managing more than 100 million dollars are required to file.

In other words, institutions are holding onto their positions while retail investors, family offices and shorter-term ETF traders are tradeing. The divergence between retail outflows and institutional accumulation has widened throughout November.

The trend also suggests that large asset managers and sophisticated investors are treating volatility as a purchaseing opportunity, even as sentiment metrics signal fear.

Investor Takeaway

What Does Gunden’s Exit Mean for the Broader Market?

Gunden’s full liquidation stands out because ahead BTC adopters rarely unwind their entire stacks. Many who accumulated coins during the ahead Mt. Gox era are long-term holders who treat BTC as long-duration wealth.

His decision to step aside raises a few possibilities:

• He may be signaling a view that the cycle peak is near. Whales sometimes exit when liquidity is high and purchaviewrs remain active.
• Portfolio restructuring could be a factor. Some large holders rotate into newer assets, private investments or fiat opportunities.
• Tax or estate planning may play a role. Billion-dollar liquidity events often occur for reasons unrelated to price outlook.

Still, the timing coincides with the sharpest divergence between institutional and retail flows in ETF history. While whales like Gunden take profits, institutions — many of which operate multi-year strategies — continue absorbing supply.

This divergence underscores a defining feature of the current cycle: BTC is shifting further into institutional hands, even as high-net-worth ahead adopters and retail investors rotate out.

The Road Ahead: Distribution or Structural Maturity?

If institutions continue increasing their share of spot ETF ownership while whales exit, BTC’s market composition may begin resembling dominated by long-term asset managers. That can stabilize long-run trends but amplify short-term volatility when retail panic meets institutional accumulation.

For now, Gunden’s exit adds another datapoint to a market already wrestling with sentiment lows, ETF tradeing pressure and a broader fear of cycle exhaustion. But history suggests that large-scale distribution from ahead adopters into institutional hands has often preceded new periods of market maturity.

Whether this marks the end of the cycle or a deep mid-cycle correction remains uncertain — but the investor base is clahead changing.