Whales are some of the most relevant entities in the Bitcoin market due to their potential influence on the Bitcoin price through large-scale transactions. Investors and traders often look for whale trades, which can cause a domino effect on the market.
In one such development, recent on-chain data revealed that a certain whale has woken up from a three-year sleep and moved its BTC for the first time since 2020.
Whale becomes active for the first time in three years
According to data from blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligencea certain Bitcoin whale became active after years of dormancy and transferred 5,000 BTC (worth approximately $137 million) on Saturday, October 7.
The whale address initially received the 5,000 BTC from “Poolin mining pool” on June 23, 2020. At the time, the Bitcoin price was approximately $9,700, bringing the total value of the transaction to approximately $48.5 million.
The Bitcoin price has seen significant growth since 2020, with one BTC trading for $27,903 at the time of writing. As a result, the whale address’s holdings had risen to approximately $137 million when all 5,000 BTC were moved on Saturday.
Data from the chain shows that this whale split and transferred the 5,000 to two separate addresses. About 4,000 BTC were transferred to one address and 1,000 BTC to the other address, both new and unmarked.
A threat to the Bitcoin price?
This latest whale move seems to be creating a sense of caution in the Bitcoin market. This is no surprise, as the movement of a large BTC amount (especially a sell-off) often sparks interest or fear among other investors, leading to temporary price fluctuations.
Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the reason behind this whale transfer is currently unknown. It remains to be seen whether the owner wants to sell his assets or simply move them to another wallet.
If the whale plans to sell all its BTC shares, this latest move could potentially threaten the Bitcoin price. Large-scale selling could negatively impact Bitcoin’s value as it often puts downward pressure on the cryptocurrency and could cause a temporary price drop.
It may be worth mentioning that the Bitcoin price has not undergone any significant or abrupt changes in the last 24 hours. According to CoinGecko data, the value of BTC has fallen by 0.1% over the past day.
Bitcoin has started October in a relatively healthy way, with the main cryptocurrency posting a 3.3% gain since the start of the month. The BTC price has been moving mostly sideways in recent days as it looks set to break the $28,000 barrier.
Bitcoin price hovering around $28,000 on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView