A Bitcoin wallet that has held 4,581.94 BTC since March 2020 transferred its entire balance, worth approximately $377 million, to five new addresses on Oct. 12. The transaction occurred as Bitcoin traded around $82,350. The wallet's owner has remained dormant through multiple market crashes and significant price appreciation.
Moves by large Bitcoin holders, known as whales, can sometimes precede significant market activity or indicate a change in sentiment, as holders may be looking to realize substantial gains or reallocate their assets.
A dormant Bitcoin wallet, often referred to as a 'whale' due to its significant holdings, moved its entire balance of 4,581.94 BTC, valued at approximately $377 million, to five new addresses on Oct. 12. The transaction was confirmed in block 971,126 at around 18:37 UTC, with Bitcoin trading near $82,350.
The wallet received its coins on March 3, 2020, when the balance was worth about $40.5 million. Since then, the holdings have endured multiple market downturns, including the COVID-19 crash, Tesla's suspension of Bitcoin payments, China's mining crackdown, and the collapses of Terra, Celsius, and FTX. Despite these events and significant price fluctuations, the owner maintained the holdings, resulting in a nearly tenfold increase in value.
Of the five new addresses, four received exactly 1,000 BTC each, and the fifth received the remaining 581.94 BTC. The transaction fee was a mere 732 satoshis, or about 60 cents. As of Oct. 13, none of the new addresses have moved any funds, leaving the ultimate destination and control of the coins unclear. The wallet also received 22 small 'dust' deposits since 2020, including one from a look-alike address designed to potentially trick the owner into revealing their keys, which was not successful.
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