$1B USDT Moved Off Crypto Exchanges In 4 Days, What Are The Whales Up To?

No doubt the crypto environment has seen major headlines impacting the market in several ways over the past few weeks. However, the latest headline today has raised more curiosity and questions among the community pondering the whale’s next move given the uncertainty in the market on whether we are in a bull season or a trap. 

According to a report from the market intelligence platform Santiment, a large transfer of Tether’s stablecoin USDT has soared over the past years, with eight out of the massive transaction recorded exceeding a value of more than $1 billion. 

What Are The Whales Up To Now?

While many have wondered about the reason behind the odd spike in the market despite a reason for a plummet, Santiment’s latest report revealed the surge in the market could be a result of the whale’s massive transfers as out of the large four recorded transactions was seen to have taken place in the last ten days.

Though many crypto enthusiasts have argued that the large transactions may have been used to move the market or as an exchange for Bitcoin (BTC), Santiment suggested instead that the large transfers were likely due to whales’ concerns over the stability of USDC, a stablecoin issued by Circle who recently reported a $3 billion exposure to troubled Silicon Valley Bank

Though Circle has announced the recovery of the $3 billion, Silicon Valley is still experiencing a financial run. Meanwhile, on Monday, HSBC UK, the ring-fenced subsidiary of HSBC, acquired Silicon Valley Bank UK for £1 ($1.21). Santiment noted the “bank collapse and USDC concerns” have made “big contributors” in the market move their “USDT off exchanges at a rapid rate.”

Bitcoin (BTC) In A Week

As of last week, Bitcoin (BTC) was still seen moving in a bearish trend as the negative news intensified. Silvergate which offered the industry a payments network that allowed customers to exchange U.S. dollars between crypto exchange accounts 24/7 to match the liquidity needs of the crypto market suspended services last week and shut down.

The same week, one of the leading crypto exchanges KuCoin also had a rough Thursday after New York filed a lawsuit against it over the failure to register with the state before letting investors buy and sell cryptocurrencies on its platform. However, fast forward to a week, and Bitcoin has been quick to recover as the asset has regained the major losses shed amid the downtrend.

As of yesterday, BTC reached a nine-month high of $26,500 despite the ongoing US bank crisis. So far, the BTC spike could be attributed to several factors which include a massive spot-driven buying pressure, network growth, and a decline in the value of the United States Dollar (USD). 

According to Santiment, the rising fears in banks as well as the Feds potentially now cutting interest rates instead of cutting is nothing but a crypto maxis dream scenario as many would now start seeking crypto as an appealing alternative.

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView