Crypto whales are accumulating gold again just as spot prices slide. Asset manager Abraxas Capital pulled millions in Tether Gold (XAUT) off exchanges this week, and on-chain data suggests it is not acting alone.
The whale activity comes as gold posts mixed results in July. Prices climbed early in the month, then slipped as US-Iran tensions escalated.
Gold’s Volatility Pushes Traders On-Chain
According to Onchain Lens, investment firm Abraxas Capital withdrew approximately 3,931 XAUT, worth around $15.96 million, from four major exchanges.
The transfers included 760.244 XAUT ($3.09 million) from Bitfinex, 940.207 XAUT ($3.82 million) from OKX, 230 XAUT ($934,000) from Bybit, and 2,001 XAUT ($8.12 million) from Binance.
Lookonchain also reported that a whale wallet identified as 0xD20E resumed accumulating XAUT after a three-year hiatus. Over the past three days, the wallet withdrew 953 XAUT, valued at roughly $3.93 million, from Binance.
The broader exchange flow data reinforces the trend. Nansen data showed XAUT recorded $17.4 million in net exchange outflows over the past 24 hours, around 16 times its average daily level.
The momentum has also persisted over a longer period. Over the past seven days, XAUT registered net outflows of $34.1 million, more than four times its typical weekly pace.
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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 previously reported by BeInCrypto, Paxos Gold (PAXG) has also posted notable net exchange outflows, suggesting rising demand across tokenized gold assets.
Not All Signals Point Up
The picture is not one-sided. Nansen data shows a meaningful distribution alongside the buying. One holder sold about 2,900 XAUT in 24 hours, worth roughly $11.8 million. Another cut 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. That selling tempers the bullish read on outflows.
Tether Gold tracks physical bullion, so its direction likely follows spot prices. The next Federal Reserve signal and geopolitical developments may decide whether whale buying holds.
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