Dormant Bitcoin Whale Moves $536.5M After Five and a Half Years

A Bitcoin whale has transferred 8,000 BTC, valued at approximately $536.5 million, from a Coinbase cold storage wallet after remaining dormant for over five years. This unexpected activity has drawn considerable attention within the cryptocurrency community.

Bitcoin Whale Awakens

The Bitcoin address “1ABww1…mCSKq” received the entire 8,000 BTC at block 847,490 on June 11 at 1:26 pm UTC, as reported by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence.

Remarkably, this large sum of BTC was then swiftly transferred to the Binance deposit address “15u4H…rMsLa” just one block and 11 minutes later, according to Arkham’s data. No preliminary transactions were conducted before these substantial transfers.

Historical Background

The Coinbase cold storage wallet had initially accumulated the 8,000 Bitcoin through multiple transfers on December 5, 2018, predominantly in batches of 200 BTC. This period saw BTC prices significantly lower than today’s rates, with the average acquisition price for these Bitcoins being around $3,750.

The activation of dormant addresses holding large amounts of Bitcoin often hints at potential selling, particularly when the funds are moved to an exchange deposit address. Although it is not yet confirmed whether the owner has cashed out, the timing and manner of the transfer suggest a possible intention to sell. This move marks a staggering nearly 1,700% increase from the original acquisition price of the BTC.

Recent Whale Activities

This is not an isolated incident. Recently, other Bitcoin whales have also become active. On May 12, two linked BTC wallets transferred a combined total of 1,000 BTC, worth $61 million at the time. 

Just a week prior, a BTC wallet from the Satoshi Nakamoto era moved 687 BTC, valued at nearly $44 million, to two different addresses. These movements underscore a pattern of dormant wallets springing to life, possibly indicating strategic decisions by long-term holders.

Dormant Bitcoin Analysis

Despite these sporadic activations, a substantial number of Bitcoin addresses remain inactive. According to an April 24 report by Chainalysis and Fortune, nearly 1.8 million BTC addresses have been dormant for over a decade. 

Excluding Nakamoto’s wallet, these dormant addresses hold around $121 billion worth of Bitcoin at current prices. However, many of these wallets are believed to be inaccessible due to lost or forgotten seed phrases, raising questions about how much of this BTC can ever be retrieved.

Notably, Bitcoin experienced a price slump, dropping 7.5% from a local high of $71,650 on June 7 to $66,250 on June 11.