A transaction involving 6,500 BTC, valued at just over $684.6 million, was recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain earlier today, with both sending and receiving addresses linked to Kraken, one of the biggest exchanges in the U.S.
While on-chain data confirms it was an internal transfer between cold wallets, the timing and scale have drawn attention.
What drew the attention is that Whale Alert flagged the movement shortly after it was confirmed, describing it as a transfer \"from unknown wallet to Kraken.\" But that is technically inaccurate as, according to Arkham Intelligence data, the funds never left the exchange\'s internal custody.
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 6,500 #BTC (684,680,203 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to #Krakenhttps://t.co/THfFafd3eU
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) May 30, 2025
The size of the transfer — among the larger ones seen in recent days — collided with an interesting time for crypto. May has historically been a mixed month for Bitcoin, with price performance swinging widely year to year. This time, however, BTC is up over 12%, and if it holds through the close, it will be the strongest May since 2020.
Large internal transfers are not uncommon for exchanges, especially for liquidity management or operational reshuffling. There is no indication this move was related to customer withdrawals, exchange inflows or sell-side activity, as such transfers are usually perceived by market participants.
But in a market sensitive to both signal and timing, even routine activity at this scale can shift sentiment. As Bitcoin heads into June — traditionally a slower month — market watchers are likely to feel nervous on large wallet behavior, even if it is coming from inside the house.