Satoshi-era Bitcoin Whale Moves $8.6 Billion 14 Years Later: A Signal of a Sell-Off?
A Bitcoin wallet dating back to the early days of the network has suddenly become active again after more than a decade, sending shockwaves through the crypto community with billion-dollar movements.
According to data from blockchain intelligence platform Arkham Intelligence, a “sleeping whale” whose wallet had been receiving Bitcoin since 2011 has just transferred a total of about $8.6 billion to eight new addresses. This is the first time the wallet has been active in 14 years, and one of the largest asset transfers ever recorded.
History since 2011: Bought for under $1, now worth billions
The wallets initially received BTC between April and May 2011, when Bitcoin was trading below $1. This amount of Bitcoin, now equivalent to more than $8.62 billion, was split and moved to eight new addresses, all of which have not seen any transactions since receiving the funds.
Massive profits and price dumping fears
The reappearance of Satoshi-era whales is often associated with concerns about profit-taking or large-scale sell-offs. With such a large volume of movement, many analysts believe the market could be preparing for a potential price drop if this BTC is listed on an exchange.
Arkham: Could be just a wallet security upgrade
However, Arkham Intelligence stressed that the movement pattern of these transactions does not necessarily indicate a sale. According to Arkham, the move could be to upgrade wallet addresses from older formats to newer formats, which improves security and optimizes transaction costs, especially important when wallets have been inactive for a long time.
Undercurrents into Bitcoin ETFs?
In a parallel report, 10x Research noted that “OG” wallets like these have been quietly reducing their exposure to the spot market since mid-2024. While the newly activated wallets have not sold BTC, their behavior could be related to a trend of moving assets to institutional channels, such as Bitcoin ETFs, which are growing strongly.
“This could be the reason why the current BTC price, despite a strong accumulation season and support from ETFs, is still struggling to break key resistance levels,” 10x Research noted.
Bitcoin continues to fluctuate slightly amid market volatility
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $108,729, up slightly by 0.64% over the past 24 hours. The market remains cautious, as investors continue to closely monitor developments from whale wallets as well as upcoming tariff policies from the US government.
