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Has Mr. 100 finally been identified? Some crypto users floated the notion that Mr. 100 is Tether, at least based on their "suspiciously" close amounts of Bitcoin holdings. Richard Patterson/flickr

KEY POINTS

  • Tether unveils staggering $4.7 billion in Bitcoin holdings
  • Mr. 100, a popular $BTC whale, also has some $4.7 billion worth of Bitcoins
  • Some crypto users said Tether is Mr. 100, but others begged to disagree

Cryptocurrency whales are known for having the capacity to move the market and drive engagement among small crypto holders, but no other whale has ever taken as much of the spotlight as "Mr. 100," the Bitcoin whale known for snapping up at least 100 Bitcoins for each purchase. Is Mr. 100 actually Tether?

Tether logs record $5B profit

Tether, the company behind the Tether ($USDT) stablecoin, on Wednesday published its second quarter 2024 financials, revealing that it delivered "a record net profit of $5.2 billion for the first half of the year."

It also revealed that it has a staggering $4.7 billion worth of Bitcoin holdings, more than its $3.8 billion in precious metals, and $3.5 billion in "other investments."

$USDT and Tether were trending on X Thursday as speculations emerged about the stablecoin leader possibly being Mr. 100, a mysterious $BTC whale that has steadily amassed a significant stash of some 67,000 Bitcoins.

X Trends Aug 1 2024
As news of the possible link between Tether and Mr. 100 emerged on X, $USDT was a top trend Thursday, along with Tether and Satoshi. X Trends/Screenshot

Is Tether Mr. 100?

One crypto user on X posted side-by-side photos of Tether's asset holdings report and Mr. 100's $BTC holdings as of Monday, which is also at $4.7 billion. "Is Tether Mr. 100? Bitcoin balance seems suspiciously close," @3xWolverine wrote.

After @3xWolverine posted the photos, several other crypto users reposted the images. "There is no other institution that knows of market makers like Tether. And Mr. 100 just started buying Bitcoin again, half an hour ago," one user pointed out.

Several crypto users said Tether can't possibly be Mr. 100 as the stablecoin titan has a different wallet address. Bitcoiner Mark Harvey argued against the speculation, saying Tether's Bitcoin holdings "remained the same since last quarter." Mr. 100 has been making regular $BTC purchases in the last few months.

Others were convinced Tether is Mr. 100, with one user saying Mr. 100 has to be "someone too strong to hold that amount alone." Leading blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence took to X Thursday, saying "we told you guys half a year ago: 'Mr. 100 is an Upbit cold wallet." Well-followed @Jamyies was among the crypto users who backed the theory.

Tether has yet to deny or confirm its supposed connection to Mr. 100's digital wallet.

Who is Mr. 100?

For several years, Mr. 100's activity has been followed closely by other crypto users due to his interesting buying pattern. He has been consistently purchasing around 100 Bitcoins on a near-daily basis since Feb. 14 but took a 34-day hiatus from May through June. Mr. 100's digital wallet picked up the buying spree late in June, when $BTC dipped below $59,000.

There have been various suggestions about who Mr. 100 is over the years, but some have said the wallet could be owned by a tech billionaire that has yet to be identified by on-chain intelligence analysts, and possibly, not a single investor but an asset manager behind a spot $BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF).

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