A Bitcoin wallet containing 749 BTC acquired in 2012 has reawakened, with an anonymous user moving some of its long-dormant coins today after a long hibernation.
The reactivation comes as the price of the alpha crypto has zoomed past the $71,000 mark for the first time since June.
Early Bitcoin-Era Whales Keep Stirring As BTC Skyrockets
According to on-chain data, a large Bitcoin holder who purchased 749 BTC in 2012 — and hadn’t touched it for years — transferred 159 BTC out of their wallet earlier today.
The unknown ancient Bitcoin whale moved $11.32 million worth of Bitcoin to unknown addresses at 7:28 a.m. UTC. The whale last transferred 10 BTC (valued at around $110 then) on Nov. 10, 2012, when the total 749 BTC balance was worth just $8,151, blockchain sleuth Lookonchain said on X. Despite the recent moves, the whale wallet still holds $42 million worth of BTC.
Bitcoin’s price is up 3.5% on Oct. 29, per CoinGecko data. With the premier crypto now trading for $72,761 a piece, the value of the wallet’s Bitcoin stash has grown over 6,500 times since the funds were last moved in 2012.
After the price of $BTC broke through $71,000, a whale with 749 $BTC($53.23M) woke up after 12 years of dormancy and transferred 159 $BTC($11.32M) out!The whale accumulated 749 $BTC($8,151 at the time) in 2012 when the price was only $11.https://t.co/I98gM9YgSL pic.twitter.com/XPHMKp5gQP
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 29, 2024
Over the past year, several long-dormant wallets have been activated only to move the BTC holdings to new addresses. Some of these wallets were also found to have moved their BTC to crypto exchanges, hinting they might be looking to cash out after over a decade.
Other Satoshi-era wallets are often speculated to be linked to Satoshi himself.
One such wallet woke from dormancy earlier this month after 15 years and transferred a huge chunk of its BTC mined in the first two months after the Bitcoin network went live. The wallet movement spurred the most buzz on social media, with speculation that it was Satoshi’s wallet.
‘One Last Hurdle’ For Bitcoin Before New Record Highs
Bitcoin’s current upsurge has seen the price of the crypto flip key resistance zones like the $70,000 psychological level into potential robust support.
“One last hurdle before price discovery,” popular crypto strategist Jelle opined in a Tuesday post.
Jelle was referencing the supply zone between $72,000 and the current lifetime high of $73,737.
The observation was echoed by fellow analyst Amber_D, who noted Bitcoin’s move above $71K and postulated:
“BTC is heading back to the strong resistance zone at around $71K-$73K.”
This suggests that if Bitcoin’s price decisively closes above the $72,000 mark, it will likely enter price discovery above the ATH of almost $74,000 registered in March 2024.
