Whales Bought 15,000 Bitcoin in Three Days While MARA Sold $81 Million. Who Has It Right?
Bitcoin whales poured over a billion dollars into the market right after a sharp decline, while one of the biggest mining companies quietly cashed out. Their opposing moves point to very different views on where Bitcoin goes from here.
In the days after the October 7 decline, Bitcoin whales—those with medium and large wallets—bought about 15,000 Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC), worth around $1.24 billion at current prices, according to analyst Ali Martinez. In contrast, on October 9, MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA | MARA Price Prediction), one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies, sold 996 BTC, valued at about $81 million, during the same period.
As of October 10, Bitcoin is trading at $82,801, down 2.1% over the week and 34.3% below its all-time high of $126,080. This creates a clear dichotomy: one group bought the dip, while a major miner decided to sell. So which perspective is more accurate for Bitcoin’s future, and is MARA truly making a statement about its price?
Bitcoin Whales Bought 15,000 BTC, but the Wallet Data Has Limits
Martinez’s findings indicate that medium and large wallets accumulated about 15,000 BTC, along with adding over 166,000 Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) and around 45 million XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) during the same three days, while smaller wallets continued to sell. Based on today’s prices, these purchases amount to about $1.24 billion in Bitcoin, $414 million in Ether at $2,495, and $63 million in XRP at $1.40.
However, wallet data categorizes blockchain addresses by the amount of cryptocurrency they hold without revealing their owners. This means a single individual or company can control multiple wallets, and an exchange moving coins between its accounts can look like a large buyer accumulating coins. Additionally, Martinez did not specify the data provider or clarify the thresholds for categorizing wallets as “medium” or “large,” making it difficult for readers to verify whether exchange wallets were excluded from the analysis.
Nonetheless, the trend is clear: large wallets added coins while smaller wallets shed them during the market drop.
Data also show that spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced a notable shift. Investors withdrew $487 million on October 7 and $244 million on October 8, then saw a modest $21 million inflow on October 9, according to SoSoValue. This small inflow coincided with whales’ buying activity but remains minor compared with the heavier outflows seen earlier.
Why MARA Keeps Selling Bitcoin While Cutting Its Debt
Bitcoin miners run specialized computers to secure the Bitcoin network and earn new coins as a reward. MARA’s October 9 sale of 996 BTC represented 2.8% of its total holdings, which currently stand at 35,303 BTC valued at about $2.92 billion. MARA’s holdings have decreased by 34.4% since it held 53,822 BTC on December 31, 2025.
In the first half of 2026, MARA sold around 23,093 BTC for about $1.63 billion, averaging approximately $70,631 per coin. This total includes selling 20,880 coins for about $1.5 billion in the first quarter and 2,213 coins at an average price of $73,078 in the second quarter. The company has stated its intention to “continue to monetize bitcoin opportunistically to fund operations and capital projects,” using the cash for operating expenses, acquisitions, and debt repayment.
This selling strategy has reduced MARA’s total debt from $3.6 billion to about $2.4 billion, including partial repayment of $912.8 million in convertible notes, a $350 million credit line, and the buyback of nearly $1 billion in 0% convertible notes. Convertible notes are loans that can be converted into shares later, so eliminating them reduces both debt and potential future stock issuance.
Shareholders have welcomed this approach. For instance, on March 26, MARA’s stock surged 10% after a $1.1 billion Bitcoin sale funded a debt buyback, successfully retiring some of the company’s borrowings early. Bitcoin is currently trading about 13.3% above MARA’s average sale price from the second quarter and 17.2% above the first-half average, suggesting a selling strategy tied more to financing schedules than to price predictions.
Are Bitcoin Whales or MARA Right About Bitcoin?
It appears that only the whales are making a prediction about Bitcoin’s price. MARA seems more focused on repairing its financial position, and the 996 BTC sale aligns with its debt obligations. While accumulation data from larger wallets suggests a positive move, the unnamed wallets used in the analysis and the single day of fund inflows do not definitively prove the whales’ outlook is correct. The information merely supports a narrower conclusion: larger holders acquired the Bitcoin that smaller holders sold after the October 7 drop.
MARA’s upcoming holdings update could provide more clarity. If the company’s stack shrinks further while total debt stays around $2.4 billion, it would suggest sales are no longer aimed at paying down debt, warranting a reevaluation of whether MARA is making a price prediction. Until more data comes in, MARA’s selling appears to be a strategic move aligned with financial responsibilities, while Bitcoin’s direction will largely depend on continued whale buying and ETF inflows.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
