Key points:

  • Bitcoin price losses near 2% on the day as 14-year-old coins suddenly move onchain.

  • Explanations include an unsubstantiated claim linking the BTC wallets involved to creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

  • Price comes for BTC longs as a result, with shorts massing above $110,000.

Bitcoin (BTC) slipped beneath the key $108,000 level on July 4 as transactions involving long-dormant coins startled markets.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Rumors swirl as Bitcoin “OG” moves millions

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD visiting $107,564 on Bitstamp before a modest bounce.

Down 1.6% on the day, Bitcoin built on weakness that followed a fresh rejection at $110,000 the day prior.

The latest BTC price action, which occurred in the absence of Wall Street trading thanks to the US Independence Day holiday, coincided with a giant tranche of 80,000 BTC reawakening after 14 years.

The transactions were linked to a single whale entity, with monitoring resource Lookonchain confirming a total of eight wallets.

The transfers were ongoing at the time of writing, with markets clearly nervous of the implications of such old coins suddenly moving onchain, potentially as part of a sale.

Rumors on social media abounded, with popular trader CryptoBeast even linking the transactions to Satoshi Nakamoto.

Source: Crypto Beast/X

Commenting, popular X trading account TheKingfisher observed a spike in so-called “toxic” order flow — transactions which result in losses for market makers.

“I'd expect it to retrace, maybe liq those high leverage shorts,” part of a post suggested, referring to a build-up of BTC short liquidity on exchange order books.

BTC liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass

Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass showed BTC/USD eating through long liquidity levels while overhead resistance — especially above $110,000 — increased.

BTC price risks canceling breakout

Continuing on Bitcoin price action, popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital flagged a potential risk to bull market upside.

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A daily chart uploaded to X showed BTC/USD undoing the resistance/support flip of a key trendline, which has been in place since the current all-time highs of $112,000.

“Bitcoin is losing the diagonal for the moment,” he confirmed.

“But if price Daily Closes above the diagonal then this will have ended as a downside wick as part of a volatile retest. Upcoming Daily Close will be pivotal.”
BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X

Previously, other crypto market participants had repeatedly highlighted $108,000 as the level that bulls needed to hold going forward.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.