We love crypto. But like any passion, particularly one that involves so much money, it can be stressful.

That’s why it’s important to take some time away and soothe the mind and soul.

And is there any pastime more calming, more boring, and more majestic, than whale watching?

We’re not talking about orcas or sperm whales, we want to watch the movement and migrations of the world’s largest Bitcoin holders.

Pack a windbreaker and a sense of patience, we might just see a tail.

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That’s right. If you’ve enjoyed reading Coffee & Crypto, we thought you might be interested in the good stuff we keep in the back.

It’s a newsletter we’re calling “Premium Roast,” and it cuts through the nonsense floating around from Twitter and CNBC.

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Espresso Shots

☕️ FTX Partners with Galaxy 🌌 🤝

As Interim FTX CEO John Jay Ray III looks to sell $3 billion of the disgraced exchange’s crypto holdings, Ray has tapped Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy as the merchant for the job.

The liquidation plan includes staking and massive sell-offs of FTX’s ETH and BTC.

An August 24, court filing named Galaxy as an official advisor in FTX’s efforts to repay customers and debtors awaiting FTX reparations.

It’s a solid plan, but if Ray was really interested in getting more bang for his buck, he would consider siphoning customer funds, engaging in wash trading at a sister exchange, and using those proceeds to build a compound in the Bahamas.

☕️ Tornado Cash Founders Arrested 🌪 ⚖️

In a series of events that sounds like a comic book villain origin story, Roman Storm, the founder of Tornado Cash, has been arrested for money laundering.

Roman Storm, in addition to Roman Semenov, his co-founder, were charged by the DOJ for their involvement in using Tornado Cash to launder upwards of $1 billion in criminal cash through its mixing service.

“While publicly claiming to offer a technically sophisticated privacy service, Storm and Semenov in fact knew that they were helping hackers and fraudsters conceal the fruits of their crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in an official statement.

Meteorologically, the two men will enjoy a period of calm before they go to trial as they enter the eye of the legal hurricane.

☕️ Reducing Food Waste in the Metaverse 🌮 🎮

DBS Bank, Singapore’s largest bank, has partnered with Sandbox in an attempt to use the Metaverse for good.

Together, they’re launching DBS BetterWorld — a series of in-game adventures to teach valuable lessons and use the Metaverse to improve humanity.

The first iteration of DBS BetterWorld has players completing five activities to learn about reducing food waste.

It’s fascinating that the project is attempting to cut back on food waste when the entire undertaking seems like a massive waste of time.

Spilling the Beans

Let's Go Whale Watching 🐳 🌐

Whales are the largest animals on Earth, and carry with them a proportional importance.

For centuries, mankind harvested their blubber and oil.

Sometimes, whalers would even swear life-long oaths of vengeance against them, and those oaths would be written into books. Books you would pretend that you read in high school.

But now that mankind doesn’t crave blubber and most of our oil comes from offshore rigs or dab pens, whales are meant to be protected, not hunted.

The massive, mysterious denizens of the oceans are now just admired by tourists, researched by oceanographers, or imprisoned by SeaWorld.

And in crypto, whales are no less important.

A Bitcoin whale is any person or institution holding a massive amount of BTC. But this rubric doesn’t just apply to Bitcoin. Technically, any entity with 10% or more of any given crypto is considered a whale.

And because of their size, Bitcoin whales hold a proportionately greater amount of influence and sway over the fluctuations of the Bitcoin market.

It’s that relationship that makes them worthwhile to track.

But what are they up to?

Our most recent, most exciting whale action occurred last July, when two Bitcoin whales moved nearly $60 million in Bitcoin in just five days.

And these wallets moved their BTC after 12 years of inactivity. But this often seems to be the case with whales.

Another Bitcoin whale sighting took place last August when one of them moved $11 million over the weekend. This wallet had purchased 900 Bitcoin in 2012, an investment that certainly has undergone some fluctuations, but ultimately a 40,000% gain.

We think the most reasonable explanation for whales' idling in inactivity that sometimes lasts decades is that these are incredibly wealthy individuals or institutions, like Russian oligarchs. Or Batman.

Their Bitcoin purchases were when crypto was fresh and new, probably part of an effort to diversify a portfolio. And, since whales are so rich, they can set aside their wealth for years.

But then, suddenly, the whales shift their attention back to crypto and we get all excited.

Why? Because their movements prompt massive speculation. Are the whales about to engage in a massive sell-off and drive down the price of Bitcoin? Are they choosing a new exchange? Are they being hacked and drained?

Much like whales themselves, the motivations behind Bitcoin whales are usually deep and unknown.

But their movements are always worth paying attention to as market indicators. And we enjoy a good whale watch, so we’re considering doing this as a recurring segment.

But if you’re serious about conducting your own Bitcoin whale watching, we recommend dedicated sites like Whale Alert or WhaleWatcher.

Bitcoin whales are majestic and important, and they make us all remember how small and not wealthy we really are.

But there’s one crucial distinction between Bitcoin whales and actual whales, and that’s the absence of beautiful, haunting whale calls.

We haven’t had many listens on our Spotify Bitcoin whale sounds sleepytime playlist.

Premium Market Report

Bitcoin Derivatives Reveal Traders’ Optimism Despite Recent Correction 😁 📉
Source: Cointelegraph

📃 Summary:

Meme of the Day

They always know how to make a splash. 💦

Crypto 101

Bitcoin Dolphins: Okay, we honestly didn’t make this one up. But, this is a Bitcoin holder that has a pretty large amount of BTC, but not large enough to qualify as a whale.

The Last Sip

We think Bitcoin Whales is a pretty apt name for these titanic BTC holders, but we thought of some alternatives anyway.

• Crypto Glaciers: They’re massive, slow, and steadily melting.

• Ethereum Elephants: An Ethereum Elephant never forgets, which is why they travel hundreds of miles to that spooky, sand-covered Ethereum Elephant graveyard.

• Bitcoin Ents: When they meet up in person it’s called an “Ent Moot.”

Stay Caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.