Bitcoin Sees Largest Exchange Outflow Since April as Institutional Buying Accelerates

On Wednesday, centralized exchanges recorded a significant net outflow of over 17,000 BTC, valued at more than $1.6 billion at the prevailing market price of $98,600, according to Glassnode data shared by Andrew Dragosch, head of research at Bitwise.

This marks the largest single-day withdrawal of Bitcoin from exchanges since April 2024, suggesting a wave of institutional accumulation. “Whales are buying this dip,” Dragosch posted on X, indicating that major investors are moving Bitcoin into self-custody—a bullish signal, as such moves typically indicate long-term holding strategies.

However, analysts caution that large outflows can sometimes be linked to internal transfers between exchange wallets rather than outright buying activity.

Coinbase played a key role in the movement, seeing net withdrawals exceeding 15,000 BTC, Dragosch noted. According to Timechainindex.com, the exchange split over 20,000 BTC from four addresses into 60 smaller wallets, a pattern that suggests a major institutional acquisition, possibly by Bitcoin ETFs or MicroStrategy.

“We have high confidence that this transaction is tied to cold storage,” Glassnode told CoinDesk, reinforcing speculation that institutions are stockpiling Bitcoin.

Further on-chain data from CryptoQuant revealed that across all exchanges, a total of 47,000 BTC left trading platforms on Wednesday, with Coinbase alone accounting for 15,800 BTC of that figure.

Despite Bitcoin briefly dipping below $96,800 late Wednesday during U.S. trading hours, prices rebounded early Thursday following comments from Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump, who encouraged World Liberty Financial—a crypto platform linked to the Trump family—to make its first Bitcoin investment.