TechFlow reports, on December 26, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju stated, "Whales are accumulating Bitcoin through privacy transactions. Over the past two years, the annual number of CoinJoin transactions has tripled. Although some attribute this surge to hacker money laundering, Chainalysis reports that total hacker losses this year amounted to $2.2 billion, representing less than 0.5% of Bitcoin's realized market cap inflows of $377 billion.
In 2024, 1.55 million BTC flowed into accumulation addresses, primarily linked to ETFs, MicroStrategy, and custodial wallets. Whales often use privacy transactions to transfer funds to emerging institutional investors. Beyond disclosed holdings, approximately 240,000 to 420,000 BTC remain unaccounted for in terms of ownership—just who are these whales?"
