Bitcoin whale deposits another 1,176 BTC to Hyperliquid following $4 billion ETH rotation: onchain analysts

After a two-week break, the OG whale who recently swapped over $4 billion in BTC for ETH has resumed selling bitcoin, according to Lookonchain. 

Two wallets linked to the whale deposited approximately 1,176 BTC ($136.2 million) to Hyperliquid over the weekend and "started dumping," the onchain analysts said. Data from Arkham shows two transactions of 551.7 BTC ($60.1 million) and 625 BTC ($72.4 million) sent from the whale to the decentralized exchange, respectively.

The whale previously exchanged a total of 35,991 BTC ($4.04 billion) for 886,371 ETH ($4.07 billion) between Aug. 20 and Sept. 1, after emerging from a seven-year slumber. Following those transfers, Lookonchain said the whale still held 49,634 BTC ($5.4 billion) across four wallets.

The whale rotation from BTC to ETH coincided with a similar rotation spotted among spot crypto exchange-traded funds. In August, spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a total net outflow of more than $750 million, while Ethereum ETFs recorded $3.9 billion in monthly net inflows, according to data compiled by The Block.

ETH initially struggled against BTC in 2025, losing half of its value against bitcoin before it bottomed at a ratio of around 0.018 during the aftermath of President Trump's Liberation Day tariff announcements in April. However, ETH has enjoyed a period of outperformance since, gaining approximately 117% against BTC from April 21. 

Since the OG whale began rotating, the ETH/BTC ratio is up 8.3%, currently sitting at 0.039, down 9.3% from a peak of around 0.043 on Aug. 24.

Bitcoin OG whale activity on the rise

OG bitcoin wallets have ramped up their activity in recent months as the foremost cryptocurrency continued to make new all-time highs.

In July, Galaxy Digital sold off more than 80,000 BTC, valued at over $9 billion at the time, for a Satoshi-era investor related to the client's estate planning requirements, though the large, relatively fast sale was absorbed by the market well. The funds were moved for the first time in 14 years ahead of the sale.

Last week, a dormant bitcoin wallet containing around 445 BTC worth over $50 million woke up for the first time in 13 years, following another bitcoin address containing around 479 BTC ($53 million) that became active again after the same time period the week prior.