The movement of dormant Bitcoin addresses has been sporadic this year, with most causing a stir and increasing interest among the Bitcoin community. The latest data on whale transactions this year shows that a series of dormant Bitcoins from 2017 have started moving for the first time in six years.
Peckshield, a blockchain security and data analytics company, revealed in a tweet that the previously inactive address, which contained 2,100 BTC, has just become active and the assets have now been transferred to another address.
Whale wakes from sleep and moves $56 million
According to data from BitInfoChartsthis Bitcoin address initially had its first Bitcoin transaction of 2099.99 BTC on October 10, 2019. At the time, Bitcoin was trading at $5,618, bringing the total value of the transaction to $11.79 million. Bitcoin has grown substantially since then, with the unit now costing $27,140 at the time of writing.
#PeckShieldAlert A sleeping one #BTC address 13RLtG…PXs, which received ~2,100 $BTC (worth approximately $11.8 million at time of transfer) on October 19, 2017, moved its $BTC (now worth ~$56.3 million) to a new address 1LGnp5…GgM. pic.twitter.com/rchpCTI1va
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 19, 2023
The cumulative balance on the wallet address increased significantly to $56.3 million at the time of transfer, indicating a significant gain of $44.5 million. However, on-chain data shows that the value of these holdings reached $121 million during the 2021 crypto market bull run.
Bearish signal?
The whale transfer in question seems to have added an air of mystery and excitement to an otherwise uneventful week of Bitcoin. When a large amount of BTC moves suddenlythis can attract the interest of other traders, causing temporary price fluctuations, especially if they are sold out.
BTC price clears $27,000 resistance | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
It is currently unclear what the motive behind the transfer of these coins is as the owner may be preparing for a sell-off or a transfer to a more secure wallet. However, this move could be bearish if they decided to sell all their assets.
It could put significant selling pressure on Bitcoin and cause the price to drop, at least temporarily. However, on-chain data shows that the 2,100 BTC are still held at a private address, “1LGnp”, showing that they are likely still in-house.
Bitcoin worth $24.88 million resurfaces from 2012 wallets
In another series of trades this week, a series of dormant Bitcoin from 2012 has stirred for the first time in 11 years. The Bitcoin cache, which is worth a total of $24.88 million at the current BTC price, was moved in five transactions, making it unclear whether they belonged to one person. However, findings from on-chain data show that they are more likely to belong to one entity due to their acquisition dates.
Likewise, one of the first Bitcoin wallets with 1,005 BTC was woke up last month. These cryptocurrencies were acquired for less than $1 each in 2010, during the first year of Bitcoin’s creation.
Featured image of CryptoSlate, chart from Tradingview.com