Whale movements, decoded

Three real, confirmed Bitcoin transactions, decoded with the same logic the Brief tool uses — the summary, the certainty, the decision logic, and any labels matched. Every number below comes from the public mempool API; the summaries are the tool's actual output on these transactions.

1. A consolidation — 147 into 1

txid: 61b5cc645177843e8514e18a19faf162a19247c8bb4f25519b57c166e9df302c

View on mempool.space ↗ Try in Brief → confirmed · block 615825 · 2020-02-03
22,024.69 BTC moved. Fee: 0.0050 BTC (7.2 sat/vB). This is probably a movement touching labeled Bitfinex address(es).
inputs: 147
outputs: 1
total: 22,024.69 BTC
certainty: PROBABLY

Labels: Bitfinex (input, high confidence) — a well-known Bitfinex cold wallet.

Context: Bitfinex swept 147 of its own outputs into a single new one — a textbook consolidation. Note the label is on an input (Bitfinex consolidating its own funds); the single output is unlabeled.

Why it's here: the canonical consolidation shape — many inputs collapsed into one output, at exchange scale.

2. A batch send — 1 into 402 (and a label that's noise)

txid: 900d114ebb2cd6f9daae5f4474a0f7dce9292d51c5478810fa21939c19fb885f

View on mempool.space ↗ Try in Brief → confirmed · block 950446 · 2026-05-22
0.64 BTC moved. Outputs touch the Mt. Gox hack stolen-funds address. Fee: 0.0003 BTC (2.0 sat/vB). This is possibly a movement touching that labeled address.
inputs: 1
outputs: 402
total: 0.64 BTC
certainty: POSSIBLY

Labels: one output touches the famous Mt. Gox hack address (high confidence).

Context — read this critically: this is a 402-output batch send totaling just 0.64 BTC. One of those outputs sends a tiny amount to the famous Mt. Gox address. The tool flags the label — correctly — but that touch is noise: someone dusted a famous address, it is not Mt. Gox moving funds. A label match is a clue, not a conclusion.

Why it's here: an extreme distribution shape (1 → 402), and a real lesson — size (0.64 BTC) and labels can both mislead if you don't read the structure.

3. A seizure — 40,000 BTC to the US Government

txid: 5435a6f76793a55e20626fb3fda796e93462f62ccb0f244c382127043f495451

View on mempool.space ↗ Try in Brief → confirmed · block 728977 · 2022-03-25
40,000.33 BTC moved. Outputs touch the US Government — James Zhong Silk Road seizure address. Fee: 0.0003 BTC (14.5 sat/vB). This is probably a movement touching that labeled address.
inputs: 33
outputs: 1
total: 40,000.33 BTC
certainty: PROBABLY

Labels: US Government — James Zhong Silk Road seizure address (output, high confidence).

Context: the DOJ's seizure of roughly 40,000 BTC from James Zhong (linked to Silk Road), moved into a government-controlled address in March 2022 — among the largest US crypto seizures. DOJ announcement ↗

Why it's here: structurally it's another consolidation (33 → 1), but it's here as a notable real-world seizure — the kind of event a "whale radar" exists to make legible.

Want to decode your own? Open the Brief, or read how to read a whale move.