Crypto whales are accumulating gold again just as spot prices slide, with asset manager Abraxas Capital pulling $15.96 million worth of Tether Gold (XAUT) off exchanges this week. According to Onchain Lens, the investment firm withdrew approximately 3,931 XAUT from four major exchanges, including $3.09 million from Bitfinex, $3.82 million from OKX, $934,000 from Bybit, and $8.12 million from Binance. The broader exchange flow data reinforces this trend, with Nansen data showing $17.4 million in net exchange outflows over the past 24 hours, around 16 times its average daily level. This accumulation comes as gold prices posted mixed results in July, with early month gains followed by slips as US-Iran tensions escalated.
The accumulation momentum has persisted over a longer period, with Nansen data showing $34.1 million in net outflows over the past seven days, more than four times its typical weekly pace. Lookonchain also reported that a whale wallet identified as 0xD20E resumed accumulating XAUT after a three-year hiatus, withdrawing 953 XAUT valued at roughly $3.93 million from Binance over the past three days. Such sustained exchange withdrawals are generally viewed as a sign of accumulation, as investors moving tokens into self-custody are typically positioning for longer-term holding rather than immediate trading. The trend is not limited to XAUT, as Paxos Gold (PAXG) has also posted notable net exchange outflows, suggesting rising demand across tokenized gold assets.
Despite the accumulation trend, the picture shows mixed signals in the market. Nansen data reveals that while whales are buying, some holders are selling, with one holder selling about 2,900 XAUT worth roughly $11.8 million in 24 hours, and another cutting 757 tokens over the same period. Two of the largest tracked wallets, 0x77134c and 0x28c6c0, each shed more than 5,000 XAUT over 30 days, which tempers the bullish read on outflows. Tether Gold tracks physical bullion, so its direction likely follows spot prices, with the next Federal Reserve signal and geopolitical developments potentially deciding whether whale buying continues.
