Blockchain data reveals that Jump Trading, Wintermute, and Abraxas Capital have sent a significant amount of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and ARB tokens from Arbitrum to cryptocurrency exchanges during Monday’s market sell-off.
Asset management company Abraxas Capital transferred 14,130 ETH, valued at approximately $22.5 million, to Bitfinex in two transactions, noted blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence in an X-post. Major market maker Jump Trading sent nearly 236 BTC, worth $5.9 million, to Binance in a single transfer, Arkham added.
Blockchain detective Lookonchain pointed out that Wintermute, another major market maker, has sent over $3.3 million worth of ARB to Binance in the past 8 hours.
Smaller traders often follow on-chain activities of large institutional traders because they are seen as having access to comprehensive information and significant influence on the market. Sending tokens to exchanges can signal an intention to sell, but it can also be part of market makers shuffling funds between different exchanges to provide liquidity.
These money transfers today coincide with the cryptocurrency market experiencing a sharp downturn due to concerns about the cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s potential liquidation of its $3.4 billion worth of digital assets. Coinglass data shows that September has been a turbulent month in the history of digital assets, with BTC posting its first negative year-to-date return since 2016.