The Wolf Of All Streets — "Have the Whales Finished Selling?" | CryptoTownHall (September 9, 2025)

Host: Scott Melker
Guests: Multiple industry participants (including market makers, traders, and analysts)

Episode Overview

This episode tackles one of the most pressing questions in crypto: “Have the Whales Finished Selling?” Drawing from the latest on-chain data, major moves in the digital asset ecosystem, and the evolving landscape of tokenization, Scott Melker and guests dissect whale activity, capital flows through new structures like DATCOs, the fate of altcoins, and the changing future of both crypto and traditional markets. The conversation is both a high-level macro discussion and a ground-level deep dive, offering perspectives from active market participants, traders, and institutional insiders.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Whale Selling: The Scale and Its Impact on Bitcoin

• Whale Activity Stats:

  • Over 200,000 Bitcoin have been sold by whales since July (00:13, Speaker B). On-chain data supports multiple hundred-thousand BTC having shifted hands, mainly via OTC desks and exchanges.
  • The transition coincides with increasing mainstream adoption and less volatile price response (“To me that’s bullish and it’s a long-term thing… a lot of technical analysis might be misapplied.” — B, 00:44)

• Market Absorption:

  • Despite $10+ billion worth of Bitcoin being distributed, the price has held above $100,000—something seen as highly bullish and evidence the market is absorbing supply efficiently (09:12).
  • “Bitcoin has been dispersed to other hands without a price shock… it’s managed to absorb it.” — E, 08:29

2. DATCOs (Digital Asset Treasury Companies) and Institutional Flows

• Mechanism and Market Impact:

  • Many expected DATCOs to unleash immediate buy pressure, but most capital (“80 to 90%”) raised has been in-kind crypto (not USD), meaning Bitcoin simply changes custody without creating direct price impact (01:24–04:10, Speaker C).
  • Equity investors often receive shares in exchange and may sell those positions, but the original Bitcoin typically remains with the DATCO longer-term, muting fears of large dumps.
    • “It’s a churn… [Bitcoin is] just changing hands and moving from one party to another… not really hitting the liquid market or exchanges.” — C, 10:28

• Bullish Structure:

  • Many leading DATCO investors are the same individuals who backed major mining operations, reinforcing long-term holding conviction. Movements of old coins often indicate trust that assets will not be offloaded rapidly (10:28).

3. Major Altcoin & Treasury Announcements

• Solana Treasury Collaboration:

  • A $1.65 billion Solana treasury company launched by Galaxy, Jump, and MultiCoin draws discussion about risk removal.
  • “Are you effectively saying that the risk of that is now basically zero because they've moved it into this treasury company and so that overhang is gone now?” — B, 14:40
    “Exactly… DATCOs are not evil at all.” — C, 15:12

• Altcoin Market Rotation:

  • Observed data shows “die-hard fans” from 2020-21 cycles (ex: Cosmos, Polkadot, etc.) are rotating six-figure positions into altcoins with stronger fundamentals—i.e., Hype token, AAVE, Curve (18:41–20:01, Speaker D).
  • Alt season defined by “fundamental season” as more mature projects outperform.

4. Tokenization of Stocks & Future of Traditional Markets

• NASDAQ and Stock Tokenization:

  • Forward Industries' Solana-based treasury company aligns with NASDAQ’s plans to trade tokenized stocks by Q3 2026—could favor Solana over Ethereum thanks to scalability (21:00–21:22, F).
  • Cautious skepticism: Will legacy institutions adopt fully decentralized models, or will centralization prevail? “If it actually ends up that the NASDAQ wants to adopt full tokenization, it’ll be on a NASDAQ blockchain that is fully centralized.” — A, 23:50
  • Galaxy’s own stock tokenized on Solana seen as a bullish milestone (24:27).

• Centralized vs Decentralized Futures:

  • Legal/accounting norms and the desire for recourse will likely preserve a role for custodial, centralized, and permissioned solutions, even as decentralization proves its advantages (25:38–26:47).
  • “Normalizing self-custodying stocks… is cool and a huge paradigm shift.” — G, 24:44

5. Macro Market Context & Trader Sentiment

• Overview from Mish:

  • Bitcoin appears bullish, with $114,000 as key resistance (28:29).
  • Noted significant capital flows into Ethereum, Chainlink, and a growing interest in Solana, driven by new on-chain data and treasury moves.
  • IBM and Circle (both connected to tokenization) are on watch for technical rebounds.
  • Inflation (CPI, PPI) and transportation sector highlighted as crucial macro indicators: "If we do see anything to spook the market, it would be inflation and equities. That could be good for some things, not so good for other things." — H, 31:12

• Stablecoins & Rate Sensitivity:

  • Concern over Circle’s business model: their revenue is linked to interest rates (holding large amounts of Treasuries); future Fed rate cuts could slash stablecoin profits (32:29).

6. Will Wall Street Build Its Own Chains?

• Debate Over Bank Blockchains:

  • Will big banks and exchanges adopt open chains or craft their own, permissioned ledgers?
    • “Why would a company like Goldman Sachs want to go on another person's chain when they can create their own chain… and absorb all the fees?” — D, 36:02
  • Counterpoint:
    • “Most of the use of blockchain for the nuts and bolts is going to be commoditized… Not going to generate enormous amounts of fees. Where the fees will come in are in the value-added services.” — B, 37:52
    • “The biggest difference with crypto is the potential for breaking down cartels by creating open access to certain businesses. And they’re going to fight those tooth and nail.” — B, 42:51

• Interoperability and the Future:

  • The future lies in "bridgeless" systems where liquidity balances across chains (36:20), eventually enabling endless asset swaps—think Bitcoin to Apple to Bittensor to gold in a click (45:02–48:02).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Whale Distribution:

  • “To me that’s bullish and it’s a long term thing… if you had said three months ago or four months ago that say, I don’t know what the number is, but it’s probably like 500,000 bitcoin are going to be sold by OGS… and the price is going to be roughly where it is today… that’s very bullish.” — Speaker B, 05:41

• On Institutional Moves:

  • “The amount of liquidity… now ready to gush in and coming in every day is insane. And we’ll see that increasing exponentially almost every day…” — Speaker C, 17:51

• On Market Rotation:

  • “A lot of the die hard fans of the previous cycle… are actually offloading to tokens like the Hype token that have very strong fundamentals… so there is a change in spirit and it really feels like this altcoin season.” — D, 18:41

• On the coming era of tokenized stocks:

  • “If you could go from Bitcoin and swap to let’s say one of the NASDAQ 500 or the Magnificent Sevens… that for me is an amazing experience.” — D, 45:02

• On Wall Street’s likely reaction:

  • “They will try. I think they will succeed in some places. The battles are going to be fought in the halls of Washington D.C. as well as in the market… But at the moment it does seem like they're using it.” — A and B, 48:20

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:00–02:00 — Have the whales finished selling? Overview of whale activity and implications.
• 04:10–11:00 — Deep dive into DATCOs, their investor base, and effects on liquid supply.
• 12:25–15:45 — Solana treasury company formation and implications; Galaxy/Jump/MultiCoin strategic moves.
• 18:41–20:51 — Altcoin season and shifting user/investor sentiment.
• 21:00–26:47 — Tokenization of stocks, Solana's technical positioning, and real-world adoption scenarios.
• 27:11–33:14 — Macro context (CPI, dollar, stablecoins) and practical trading/investing strategies.
• 33:14–42:51 — Will Wall Street build or buy? Debate over the future architecture of markets.
• 45:02–48:20 — Vision for seamless asset swaps and value extraction; closing debate on institutional crypto adoption.

Concluding Thoughts

This episode provided a nuanced view into how the crypto landscape is evolving under heavy whale activity, institution-driven innovation, and accelerating tokenization. The panel’s consensus: the market has absorbed significant whale distribution without collapse, DATCOs are opening new fronts for capital, and the oncoming “alt season” is grounded in fundamentally stronger projects. The future will be shaped both by technical advances (interoperability, tokenization) and regulatory/institutional power struggles.