A major Bitcoin (BTC) whale has stirred the crypto world by moving 8,000 BTC, worth $536.5 million, after over five years of inactivity. The Bitcoin was transferred from a Coinbase cold storage wallet on June 11, according to Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics firm.
The address “1ABww1…mCSKq” received the 8,000 BTC at block 847,490 at 1:26 pm UTC. Just one block and 11 minutes later, the entire amount was sent to the Binance deposit address “15u4H…rMsLa.” Notably, no test transactions were conducted before these significant transfers.
Originally, the Coinbase wallet had accumulated the 8,000 BTC through multiple transactions on December 5, 2018, mostly in increments of 200 BTC. The sudden activation of such a large dormant address often hints at potential selling, especially when the funds are transferred to an exchange.
The transfer price reflects a remarkable 1,700% increase from the acquisition price of $3,750 per BTC in December 2018. However, it remains unclear whether the owner of the Bitcoin wallet has sold their holdings.
This event is part of a broader trend of dormant Bitcoin whales becoming active. Recently, on May 12, two linked Bitcoin wallets transferred a combined 1,000 BTC, valued at $61 million at the time. A week earlier, a wallet from the Satoshi Nakamoto era moved 687 BTC, worth nearly $44 million.
Despite these movements, a significant portion of early Bitcoin wallets remains inactive. According to Chainalysis, nearly 1.8 million Bitcoin addresses have been dormant for over a decade, equating to $121 billion worth of Bitcoin at current prices. Many of these may be inaccessible due to lost or forgotten seed phrases.
Bitcoin’s price recently experienced a slump, falling 7.5% from a local high of $71,650 on June 7 to $66,250 on June 11. Despite the drop, the crypto market’s sentiment remains positive, with the Fear & Greed Index scoring 74 out of 100, indicating “Greed.”
This significant transfer has reignited discussions on the behavior of long-term Bitcoin holders and their potential impact on the market.