Is it the end of an era? The original Bitcoin whale liquidates $1.3B while Wall Street quietly buys out.

Question

Owen Gunden, who a decade ago was considered one of the 8 richest men in crypto, has just done the unthinkable: he sold his 11,000 BTC ( for approximately $1.3 billion ) between the end of October and this week. His latest move —2,499 BTC for $228 million sent to Kraken on Thursday— marks the end of one of the most iconic stories of Bitcoin.

The Drama of Gunden's Exit

Gunden is not just any whale. He was an arbitrage trader in the wild days of Mt. Gox and Tradehill, accumulating tens of thousands of BTC between 2011 and 2014. For years he was the symbol of the early adopter who “held on to the prize.” Now, with Bitcoin down 30% from its peak of $126,000, he decided it was time to exit.

Arkham Intelligence confirms: your wallet is completely empty. You don't have a single satoshi left.

The Timing is Brutal: Bitcoin in “Extreme Panic”

While liquidated, the CryptoQuant Bull Index has collapsed to 20/100 —classified as “extreme bearish”, the lowest level of the 2025 cycle. The sentiment:

Whale confidence at historical lows
Bitcoin trading at $86,444
$2.8 billion in ETF outflows in November
Retailers in total capitulation

But Here’s the Strange Part: The Big Money is Buying

As the market enters a panic, something strange is happening on Wall Street: institutional ownership in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs has reached a record of 40%, up from just 27% six months ago.

Deep roots in the data:

Only companies with >$100M in AUM report these positions
Many smaller institutional investors do not appear in the records
The actual penetration of Wall Street is probably much greater.

The Reality Without Filters

Gunden is leaving. Retailers are panicking. But JPMorgan, BlackRock, and dozens of pension funds continue to buy on the weakness.

This is the changing of the guard: from early adopters to professional capital. Bitcoin is no longer Gunden's game. It is the game of institutions.

The question now is: when does the retail market realize that it has already lost the game?