Bitcoin
The bitcoin price has rocketed over 300% since crashing to its recent lows of $15,000 per bitcoin in the aftermath of the collapse of major exchange FTX (though fears of "massive collateral damage" have suddenly returned).
Now, as the bitcoin and crypto market is braced for an "unprecedented" Wall Street earthquake, speculation about the identity of a mystery bitcoin buyer is swirling amid wild predictions the country of Qatar or billionaire Amazon
Bitcoin's historical halving that's expected to cause crypto price chaos is just around the corner! Sign up now for the free CryptoCodex—A daily newsletter for traders, investors and the crypto-curious that will keep you ahead of the market
The bitcoin price boom has sparked wild theories and predictions that a major bitcoin buyer could be ... [+]
"Max is saying Qatar may have added bitcoin to their balance sheet," Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of Skybridge Capital who briefly served as former U.S. president Donald Trump's communications director, posted to X. "If true all we can say is thank you Max Keiser!"
Max Keiser, an outlandish bitcoin investor who is working with El Salvador on its bitcoin strategy, has previously claimed without providing evidence that Qatar's sovereign wealth fund is "rumored to looking to buy $500 billion bitcoin."
Scaramucci quoted a post from Keiser that said: "It's happening," and itself referenced a September 2023 X post about the emir of Qatar meeting with El Salvador's bitcoin supporting president Nayib Bukele.
The rumors were last year given further credibility by chief executive of U.S. crypto bank Custodia Caitlin Long.
"I caught up with a big bitcoiner and investor in bitcoin infrastructure [companies] who said he doesn't think this rally is all about the spot ETF," Long, a Wall Street veteran who founded Custodia, previously known as Avanti, in early 2020, posted to X in December, alongside a link to a September report that Qatar's head of state had visited El Salvador.
Sign up now for CryptoCodex—A free, daily newsletter for the crypto-curious
The bitcoin price has rocketed to around its all-time highs, boosting the wider crypto market and ... [+]
Meanwhile, an unknown, mystery bitcoin buyer has amassed $3.2 billion worth bitcoin over the last year, gathering a pile of almost 55,000 bitcoin in transactions of 100 bitcoin since April last year.
"I think it's interesting that they've generally received the same amount on every transaction—about 100 bitcoin—throughout their existence," Amberdata director of research Chris Martin told Decrypt, adding he thinks it's unlikely the secret buyer is on of the Wall Street giants behind a new fleet of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Alongside mystery whales and rumors of nation-state bitcoin adoption, wild rumors based on little more than social media gossip has spread that billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been buying bitcoin.
"Is Jeff Bezos piling into bitcoin right now," Thomas Fahrer, a cofounder of bitcoin rewards company Apollo, asked on X.
Fahrer pointed to filings that show Bezos sold $8.5 billion in Amazon stock has evidence that the bitcoin price pump could be fueled by "billionaire fomo"—fear of missing out.
