Bitcoin Whale Emerges From 12-Year Hibernation to Move 139 BTC

Another Satoshi-era Bitcoin whale emerged from years of dormancy in the past week, with wallet 1H1Ab6 transferring 139 BTC to a new SegWit address.

The owner spent about $2,250 to purchase the coins in June 2011, but the current market value of the stash is roughly $3.5 million. Analysts refer to these coins as ‘ancient,’ purchased at least seven years ago.

Bitcoin Whales Get Active

The activity of these ‘ancient Bitcoins’ has picked up quite a bit in the first half of this year. 3,200 coins have emerged from dormancy since the start of 2023, 1,100 of which date back to 2013. A Satoshi-era address recently moved 412 BTC worth $9.6 million.

Coin movements from ancient wallets are often considered to be a bad indication. It can imply that the owner is moving the BTC to an exchange in preparation for selling at a massive profit. Sales of this volume could significantly impact pressuring the market Bitcoin price. However, holders occasionally transfer their Bitcoin to new addresses for safekeeping.

According to analysts at Glassnode, there is a lower chance of holders selling their Bitcoin after 155 days. According to data from IntoTheBlock, 69% of Bitcoin addresses now have a weighted average holding period of over a year.

A recent survey also revealed that the number of Bitcoins retained for a long time is increasing by 100,000 every month.

Bitcoin fell to a multi-month low of $25,850 on May 12 but has since bounced back to $27,450 to kick off the week on May 15.