Circle Shares Slide as OUSD Threat Emerges Despite Expanding USDC Bank Partnerships

Billionaire investor and longtime Bitcoin bull Tim Draper has denied moving his Bitcoin after blockchain analysts linked him to a large BTC transfer to Coinbase Prime.“Haven’t touched my BTC,” Draper told Cointelegraph on Friday, adding that he still expects Bitcoin to reach $250,000 within one year.The statement came after blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported Thursday that a wallet “possibly linked” to Draper had transferred 1,000 Bitcoin worth about $62 million to Coinbase Prime, citing data from Arkham.The case highlights both the growing role of blockchain analytics in tracking large crypto transfers and the challenges of independently confirming wallet ownership.Draper bought nearly 30,000 BTC in 2014Draper is best known in the crypto community as one of Bitcoin’s earliest high-profile investors, having won a US Marshals Service auction for nearly 30,000 Bitcoin seized by US authorities from Silk Road-related holdings in 2014.According to Forbes, Draper paid about $18.7 million, or roughly $632 per Bitcoin, for the holdings, now worth about $1.9 billion.Arkham labels the wallet involved in the transfer as “Tim Draper?”, indicating a tentative attribution, but does not publicly explain the basis for the classification.Source: ArkhamThe wallet’s transaction history shows several interactions with Coinbase Prime over the past year, including a 1,000 Bitcoin transfer from Coinbase Prime on 9 July, 2025, when BTC traded around $115,880 per coin.Cointelegraph reached out to Arkham for comment on its methodology and whether additional Draper-linked wallets exist, but had not received a response by publication.Draper’s $250,000 Bitcoin forecast repeatedly missed timelinesDraper’s latest reiteration of his $250,000 Bitcoin target adds to a series of forecasts that have repeatedly missed earlier timelines.The investor has held the same price target since at least 2018, initially expecting Bitcoin to reach the level by late 2022 or early 2023. However, Bitcoin’s highest recorded price to date is $126,080 on Oct. 6, 2025, according to CoinGecko. At publishing time, Bitcoin was trading around $62,530.Source: CointelegraphSome Bitcoin bulls see further upside ahead, with Blockstream CEO Adam Back expecting Bitcoin could eventually reach between $500,000 and $1 million, arguing that the milestone may be “closer than people think.”Related: Bitcoin profit and loss ratio falls to 43-month lowBlackRock CEO Larry Fink has also said Bitcoin could climb as high as $700,000 if institutional adoption increases significantly, while Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff has repeatedly argued that the asset lacks intrinsic value and could ultimately fall to zero.Polymarket’s “What price will Bitcoin hit in 2026?” prediction market shows traders pricing the most likely outcome around $65,000 to $70,000, with bets clustering near $68,000.Magazine: The end of anonymity? AI could unmask crypto’s hidden identities