16,000 Bitcoin – totaling just over $140 million – was sold by Nobuaki Kobayashi, a Mt. Gox Trustee, in a move that took an increasingly optimistic Bitcoin community by surprise.
The move triggered some nervousness because a previous similar course of actions by the man known as “The Tokyo Bitcoin Whale” (the selling of 400M$ in BTC) was pointed as the cause of a bearish streak that ended with a fall in BTC prices of almost 40%.
With similar precedent, negative opinions did not take long, including several media outlets rushing to sell the news, publishing a negative sentiments shared by some technical analysts. The correlation seemed obvious, so the results were to be expected.
However, it is important to note that Mr. Nobuaki had previously talked about the situation, clearing up the doubts of many investors who practically blamed him for a global collapse:
“Following consultation with cryptocurrency experts, I sold BTC and BCH, not by an ordinary sale through the BTC/BCH exchange, but in a manner that would avoid affecting the market price, while ensuring the security of the transaction to the extent possible,”
Despite the series of massive sales that took place, the Bitcoin market remained stable, with a steady and relatively bullish trend holding it at around $9,000. Nervousness and volatility could not reverse market sentiment, which this time did not buy the news.
The reason seems to be the same one previously overlooked by analysts. Apparently, Mr. Nobuaki’s sales were made OTC, i.e., they are not reflected in the charts as they are made in batches and in a personal way, and not through intermediaries as is usual in traditional trading exercises.
Trading over the counter is a less popular form of trading in which no trading records are produced. The parties personally buy, negotiate and sell crypto to avoid regulations, price deviations and any other type of alterations and barriers typical of traditional trade. Kevin Zhou, the founder of cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund Galois Capital, told Reuters that this is the ideal way to carry out large-scale operations like Mr. Nobuaki’s:
“Generally, you would go trade through an OTC desk when you have a large block trade you want to do without moving the market too much or incurring too much slippage”
This strategy is logical. In theory, Mr. Nobuaki could sell all his tokens at a certain price immediately without going through the “market sell” processes that would exhaust the buy orders causing a considerable drop in Bitcoin prices.
The market remains calm; apparently, the period of nervousness has passed, and the bullish are gaining ground, especially in candles reflecting behaviors over the one day span, which leads to the conclusion that there is strong confidence in the behavior of BTC prices. This optimism seems to extend to the rest of the important altcoins that are having a positive correction
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