According to on-chain data, a mysterious Bitcoin whale known as “Mr. 100” has amassed over 52,996 Bitcoins valued at more than $3.5 billion, sparking curiosity in the crypto world. A post by HODL15Capital indicates that the Mr. 100 whale wallet purchased at least 1,000 Bitcoins on March 15; this accounts for 52% of the total 1,907 Bitcoins purchased by an on-spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
This Wallet Continues to Stack Bitcoin
This address has been continuously buying Bitcoin since the bankruptcy of the FTX exchange in November 2022. The wallet has been adding at least 100 Bitcoins nearly every day since February 14. The wallet received some large Bitcoin transfers from a secondary wallet address that has been adding in increments of 100 Bitcoins since 2019. According to HODL15Capital, this suggests that the mysterious whale has been accumulating consistently since at least 2019, as stated in a March 15 post:
“What I know is that this is not one of the US ETF funds. I have mapped all of them.”
Based on the size of the purchases, there is speculation that the whale could be a Hong Kong financial institution investing for ETF funds, the Qatar Investment Authority, other Middle Eastern wealth funds, a cold wallet associated with the South Korean Upbit exchange, or an unidentified address of a tech billionaire.
“Mr. 100” continues to accumulate without concern for Bitcoin’s price nearing all-time highs, adding 400 Bitcoins on March 12 when Bitcoin was trading above the $72,000 level. Following this accumulation frenzy, Mr. 100’s wallet is now ranked as the 14th largest Bitcoin holder according to Bitinfocharts data.
Clarification on the Matter Did Not Delay
The Mr. 100 wallet has been tagged by blockchain data firm Arkham Intelligence as a cold wallet belonging to the Upbit cryptocurrency exchange. The firm stated, based on blockchain data analyzed by Crystal Intelligence, that they have confirmed the mysterious wallet belongs to Upbit:
“We have determined that the number and value of transactions associated with this wallet are indicative of a VASP type service. We can also confirm with high accuracy that the incoming transactions originated from Upbit and have maintained a consistent value since FTX’s bankruptcy.”
Looking at the wallet’s outflows, it appears that Mr. 100 only sends Bitcoin transactions to a wallet tagged by Arkham’s platform as an Upbit hot wallet. Most transactions occur in increments of at least 500 Bitcoins, with the two largest transactions involving transfers of up to 3,000 Bitcoins.
