A cluster of Bitcoin wallets tied to a man accused in one of the largest thefts in crypto history moved fresh coins to exchanges this week, according to on-chain sleuthing that has market watchers on alert. Arkham Intelligence analyst Emmett Gallic flagged the activity on X, saying entities linked to Aleksey Bilyuchenko, who the U.S. Department of Justice has charged in connection with the Mt. Gox hack, deposited roughly 1,300 BTC (about $114 million) to “unknown exchanges” over the past seven days.
On-chain trackers say those same clusters still hold about 4,100 BTC (roughly $360 million at current levels) after selling roughly 2,300 BTC previously, a pattern that analysts say looks like measured, tranche-by-tranche liquidation rather than a single, panic sale. The transfers were first highlighted by Gallic’s post and picked up by crypto news outlets that monitor Arkham’s signals and public wallet heuristics.
The attention stems from Bilyuchenko’s alleged role in the 2011–2014 era thefts that decimated the now-defunct exchange Mt. Gox. In June 2023, the DOJ unsealed charges accusing Bilyuchenko and others of conspiring to launder roughly 647,000 BTC taken from Mt. Gox, a claim that has kept any movement of wallets linked to him under a microscope ever since.
Traders Watch Supply
Despite the size of the transfers, markets appeared relatively calm on Wednesday, with Bitcoin trading in the high-$80,000s and only modest intraday swings, suggesting institutional and retail traders were not panicking over the latest outflows. Traders and analysts caution that while exchange inflows sometimes presage selling pressure, a handful of transfers, even large ones, don’t always translate into immediate market-wide declines.
Still, history shows these wallet movements can matter. Earlier in 2025, large transfers from Mt. Gox-related addresses moved the needle on sentiment when billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin changed hands and touched known custodial wallets, prompting short-term volatility as traders reassessed available supply. On-chain analysts say the current pattern, repeated deposits to exchanges combined with a gradual selling history, is exactly the sort of activity that can keep volatility elevated until the flows dry up or are absorbed by buyers.
For now, the saga remains part forensic puzzle and part market story: chain analysts will keep watching exchange deposits and withdrawal patterns, prosecutors have the 2023 charges as their lead in a long-running case, and traders will be parsing whether the coins hitting exchanges represent exiting profit or a strategy to launder and distribute long-held stolen assets. With Bitcoin trading where it is today, even a relatively small change in net selling can ripple through an already finely balanced market, which is why every large transfer tied to Mt. Gox-era allegations still draws immediate scrutiny.
from Crypto News: Bitcoin, Ethereum & Price Data | BlockchainReporter https://ift.tt/CdfUH1z
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