Is Tether the Mysterious Bitcoin Whale Known as "Mr. 100"?

Cryptocurrency whales are known for having the capacity to move the market and drive engagement among small crypto holders

Cryptocurrency whales play a pivotal role in shaping the market and driving engagement among smaller crypto holders, but no other whale has ever garnered as much attention as "Mr. 100," the Bitcoin whale known for snapping up at least 100 BTC per purchase. Now, speculations are swirling that Mr. 100 might actually be Tether.

On Wednesday, Tether, the company behind the Tether ($USDT) stablecoin, disclosed its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, revealing that it generated "a record net profit of $5.2 billion for the first half of the year."

It also unveiled that it holds an astonishing $4.7 billion worth of Bitcoin, surpassing its precious metals holdings valued at $3.8 billion and "other investments" amounting to $3.5 billion.

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

One crypto user on X posted side-by-sid photos of Tether's asset holdings report and Mr. 100's BTC holdings as of Monday, which also amounted to $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.

I have tether's addresses, they are not mr.100

Tether address is different

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.

For several years, other crypto users have been closely following Mr. 100's activity closely due to his interesting buying pattern. He has been consistently purchasing around 100 BTC 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).