A quiet $9 billion Bitcoin sale has now turned into a major controversy and it could be tied to one of the earliest crypto exchange hacks on record.
This week, Galaxy Digital confirmed it sold 80,000 Bitcoin (worth over $9.4 billion) through over-the-counter (OTC) deals. But CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju says these coins may not belong to a long-term investor at all.
Instead, they could be linked to the 2011 MyBitcoin exchange hack a breach that, until now, had faded into crypto history.
The recent transfer of 80,000 BTC, dormant for 14 years, came from wallets originally hosted by MyBitcoin, Ju posted on X.
These wallets had been inactive since April 2011, two months before MyBitcoin went offline following a hack. At the time, the exchanges owner, Tom Williams, admitted the breach and said he was working on a resolution. The attack reportedly caused $72,000 in losses a small figure by todays standards, but if those coins were kept, theyre now worth billions.
Ju believes the Bitcoins either belong to the hacker or to Williams himself, who disappeared from the public eye after the exchange collapsed.
Heres where things get murky. Ju added,
It seems Galaxy Digital bought (handled) the #Bitcoin from them, but Im not sure if they did any forensics.
Galaxy didnt reveal the sellers identity. Instead, the company described them as a Satoshi-era investor, someone from Bitcoins early days, and said the sale was part of estate planning.
That explanation hasnt convinced everyone. The lack of transparency is now raising concerns over whether Galaxy skipped proper checks before handling a historic pile of possibly hacked funds.
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Whats surprising is how calm the market stayed. Despite such a large sale, Bitcoin barely moved, trading now around $117,983. Since the deal was done OTC, it didnt directly affect order books or exchanges.
Still, it raises a bigger question: if stolen coins can quietly re-enter the system, how secure is the broader market really?
Theres a larger shift happening too. Ju, who once used whale activity to predict Bitcoin cycles, now says that approach no longer works. Old whales arent selling to retail anymore theyre passing coins to new long-term holders.
This shift could explain how 14-year-old coins tied to a failed exchange can move billions without shaking the system.
Its a reminder that the crypto world is maturing but its still full of stories that havent been fully told.
