Large holders of crypto assets have become active again in the tokenized gold market. This week, the management company Abraxas Capital withdrew millions of dollars in Tether Gold (XAUT) from centralized exchanges, and as network data shows, this is not an isolated case. We are witnessing classic accumulation during a dip: whales are using the correction in spot gold prices to increase their positions.
Record XAUT Outflow: What the Numbers Show
According to Onchain Lens analytics, Abraxas Capital withdrew approximately 3,931 XAUT (about $15.96 million) from four major trading platforms at once. The distribution is as follows: 760.244 XAUT ($3.09 million) left Bitfinex, 940.207 XAUT ($3.82 million) left OKX, 230 XAUT ($934,000) left Bybit, and 2,001 XAUT ($8.12 million) left Binance. This is a significant volume even for an institutional player.
Lookonchain also recorded that an anonymous whale (address 0xD20E) resumed accumulating XAUT after a three-year hiatus. Over the past three days, 953 XAUT worth about $3.93 million were withdrawn from Binance. The awakening of "dormant" wallets is one of the strongest signals of a shift in sentiment among large holders.
Data from Nansen confirms the scale of the trend. Over the past 24 hours, the net outflow of tokens from exchanges amounted to $17.4 million — roughly 16 times the daily average. On a seven-day basis, the picture is even more impressive: the net XAUT outflow exceeded $34.1 million, which is four times the average weekly value.
Mixed Picture: Not All Signals Point to Growth
However, the global situation is more complex than it might seem at first glance. Alongside large-scale purchases, there is also a significant redistribution of assets. One participant withdrew about 2,900 XAUT (approximately $11.8 million) in a day, while another reduced their balance by 757 tokens over the same period. Two of the largest tracked wallets (0x77134c and 0x28c6c0) have decreased their positions by more than 5,000 XAUT each over the last 30 days. This pressure somewhat weakens the bullish sentiment created by the overall outflow.
Nevertheless, the sustained withdrawal of tokens from centralized exchanges is traditionally interpreted as accumulation: investors are moving assets to personal custody, planning to hold them long-term rather than sell in the near future. Interest in tokenized gold is growing everywhere: we previously observed similar net outflows for Paxos Gold (PAXG) as well.
My view as an analyst: The current XAUT dynamics are a classic case of "smart money" in action. Whales are using volatility driven by geopolitical factors (tensions between the US and Iran) and macroeconomic uncertainty to increase their exposure to a safe-haven asset. However, the divergent movements among the largest holders indicate that consensus has not yet been formed. The key trigger for the next impulse will be signals from the US Federal Reserve and further developments in the foreign policy agenda. Keep an eye on whale balances — they will set the market direction in the coming weeks.