A historic, over-the-counter sale of greater than 80,000 bitcoin (BTC) final week captured the eye of crypto social media.
The sale of the cash, which, in accordance with CryptoQuant CEO Ki Younger Ju, may need originated from the 2011 MyBitcoin trade hack, represents the most important notional sale of BTC by a single particular person in historical past.
Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital dealt with the sale and mentioned his consumer was promoting for property planning causes. Novogratz didn’t remark additional on X concerning the transaction nor on a CNBC look shortly after the press launch.
Arkham Intelligence didn’t affirm the MyBitcoin principle, however its blockchain analysts did notice that the cash originated in April–Could 2011 and had solely transferred into eight new wallets as of early July 2025.
The 80,000-BTC quantity roughly matches the quantity that pseudonymous MyBitcoin govt Tom Williams admitted to shedding in 2011: about 51% of 154,406 BTC.
Wikipedia contributors additionally estimated MyBitcoin misplaced roughly 78,000 BTC.
Effectively guess solely Galaxy is aware of the true determine of the proprietor now
— Sani | TimechainIndex.com (@SaniExp) July 25, 2025
MyBitcoin again within the information, 14 years after hack
As with every main crypto trade hack, many questions stay about the reason for its downfall. Some skeptics even level the finger at Williams himself or different MyBitcoin insiders.
In any case, the client and the vendor didn’t transact on the date of the press launch, July 25.
As a substitute, they may have transacted off-blockchain by sweeping keys, transacted throughout on-chain actions round July 4-5, or in any other case signed authorized contracts consummating the transaction with out transferring cash on the Bitcoin ledger.
Galaxy Digital’s head of analysis retweeted a publish confirming the over-the-counter (OTC) nature of the transaction with “no blockchain crumbs.”
As a substitute of an on-chain switch, Galaxy merely printed its press launch as an OP_RETURN in an unrelated transaction between beforehand recognized Galaxy Digital shoppers.
Dormant for 14 years, the cash had ballooned in worth to over $9 billion.
