It took a lot less than 44K or $5.2M to tank the price.
This is whales preparing for the auction people.
I'm not sure it is safe to assume people are bidding anywhere near market price.
There's a premium for sure. If I remember correctly, it was pretty high last time.
OP's claim is very doubtful.
It is not even that strange to pay a premium on that big of a lot.
If you filter all self trading from the exchanges, try buying 44k from exchanges in one go and see what happens to the price. The orderbooks are not even nearly that full. Price will shoot up like a rocket and that is what they have to take into account with their bids.
I think the coins will sell for 500-600 a piece.