Here’s what happened in crypto today

Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham says the recent $8.6 billion in Bitcoin that was moved on Thursday for the first time in over 14 years doesn’t appear to be heading for a sell-off.

“There are no indications that this whale is selling Bitcoin,” Arkham said in an X post on Friday. Arkham added that the eight transfers — which moved 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) at a time from eight wallets that were untouched for over 14 years — may be possibly due to the owner upgrading from the original legacy wallet to a Native SegWit address, which is said to have improved security and lower fees.

Arkham says Bitcoin transfer “possibly related” to wallet upgrade

“Yesterday’s $8 billion transfers were possibly related to address upgrades, moving from 1-addresses to bc1q-addresses,” Arkham said.Arkham said earlier on Friday that all the Bitcoin was originally deposited into the wallets on April 2 or May 4, 2011, and remained untouched for more than 14 years. The firm added that the Bitcoin is now stored in eight new wallets and hasn’t been moved since.

In a post on the same day, blockchain research firm 10x Research said that while there’s no clear evidence the large amount of Bitcoin is being prepared for sale, its analysis has “long suggested that early holders are gradually offloading into ETF and corporate treasury demand.”

CZ says he got in “too late” after whale move

Only in February, prominent Bitcoiner PlanB revealed that he converted all of his Bitcoin holdings to spot Bitcoin ETFs. “Not having to hassle with keys gives me peace of mind. I guess I am not a maxi anymore,” PlanB said in a Feb. 15 X post.

Meanwhile, Coinbase’s head of product, Conor Grogan, raised a more alarming possibility.

Grogan said there’s a slight chance a hack caused the $8.6 billion Bitcoin transfer, and if so, it could be the largest robbery ever.

“If true (again, I’m speculating on straws here), this would be by far the largest heist in human history,” Grogan said in an X post on Friday,

The transfers caught the attention of the broader crypto industry, with some taking a light-hearted approach. Binance former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said, “I got into crypto too late.”

“After seeing the 2011 whales casually moving crypto they got for $0.1,” Zhao added.

Bitcoin whale transfer doesn’t look like it is being sold off, musical artist Drake mentions BTC in new song. Meanwhile, Robinhood’s plan to tokenize stocks on its new chain could divert liquidity from NYSE and other major exchanges.

$8.6B Bitcoin whale transfer shows no signs of sell-off: Arkham

Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham says the recent $8.6 billion in Bitcoin that was moved on Thursday for the first time in over 14 years doesn’t appear to be heading for a sell-off.

“There are no indications that this whale is selling Bitcoin,” Arkham said in an X post on Friday.

Arkham firm added that the eight transfers — which moved 10,000 Bitcoin at a time from eight wallets that were untouched for over 14 years — may be possibly due to the owner upgrading from the original legacy wallet to a Native SegWit address, which are said to have improved security and lower fees.

“Yesterday’s $8 billion transfers were possibly related to address upgrades, moving from 1-addresses to bc1q-addresses,” Arkham said.

Drake drops Bitcoin reference in new song

Musical artist Drake mentioned Bitcoin

BTCUSD

in his latest song "What Did I Miss?" The song was released on Saturday and is already drawing attention from Bitcoiners on social media.

Drake previously bet $1 million in BTC on the outcome of the 2022 Super Bowl; the championship game of the American contact sport. The specific verse from the song goes:

"I look at this shit like a BTC, could be down this week, then I'm up next week. I don't give a fuck if you love me. I don't give a fuck if you like me. Askin' me 'How did it feel?' Can't say it didn't surprise me."

Pop culture references to Bitcoin indicate that the digital asset is gradually shifting from a niche phenomenon into the mainstream.

Robinhood’s 24/7 tokenization push threatens NYSE revenues: Galaxy Digital

Robinhood’s plan to tokenize stocks on its new Ethereum-compatible blockchain could shift trading volume away from traditional exchanges like the NYSE, undermining their core revenues from trading fees and market data, according to Galaxy Digital.

At the EthCC conference this week, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev detailed plans for “Robinhood Chain,” an Ethereum-compatible layer-2 on Arbitrum Orbit. The blockchain will let users trade tokenized derivatives of stocks directly onchain, moving asset trading outside traditional exchange hours.

In a Friday report, Galaxy Digital said that Robinhood’s tokenization move removes assets from traditional market channels and brings them onchain, directly challenging the concentrated liquidity and activity that give major TradFi exchanges like the NYSE their edge.

“This directly challenges the deep concentration of liquidity and activity that gives major TradFi exchanges (e.g., NYSE) their competitive advantage,” Galaxy Digital wrote.