KEY POINTS
- The wallet stocked up on 8,000 Bitcoins worth some $30.5 million late in 2018
- After five and a half years, the Bitcoins, now worth over $500 million, were moved to Binance
- Bitcoin prices plunged a day before the dormant whale wallet's activity
A digital wallet that held 8,000 Bitcoins from late 2018 has reawakened, and the owner made more than 17x from the initial value of the assets that lay dormant in the account for five and a half years.
Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain posted about the development Tuesday. The wallet first received a total of 8,000 BTC in six separate transactions on Dec. 6, 2018, when Bitcoin prices were at $3,800. Since then, no activity took place within the account until it awakened Tuesday and moved all the Bitcoins to Binance.
Late in 2018, the wallet's BTC holdings were around $30.5 million. When the Tuesday transfer was made, the Bitcoins were worth over $500 million.
A wallet that had been dormant for 5.5 years transferred 8K $BTC($535.64M) to #Binance 40 mins ago.
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) June 11, 2024
The wallet received 8K $BTC on Dec 6, 2018, when the $BTC price was $3,810.https://t.co/zvxAKbHKi6 pic.twitter.com/ZKZHdm4JkR
Crypto whales, entities or individuals who hold large amounts of digital assets, are intriguing members of the crypto space. Blockchain analysts track their movements, especially during significant dips or hikes in crypto prices.
Tuesday's whale reawakening came after spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) snapped their 19-day positive net inflows streak, driving BTC prices down from $69,600 to $67,500. Spot BTC ETFs saw nearly $65 million in net outflows Monday, with Grayscale's GBTC leading the outflow movement.
Other digital coins were also affected by the significant dip, including Ether (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and Solana (SOL). A Bitcoin whale may have bought the dip, moving some $60 million worth of BTC out of crypto exchange giant Binance.
There have been multiple dormant whale account movements in recent months following the April 20 halving of the world's largest digital asset by market cap.
In mid-May, a BTC whale wallet that was opened more than 10 years ago with 500 Bitcoins worth around $63,500 suddenly activated to a massive profit as the digital coins increased in value to $30.4 million at the time.
Earlier in May, another dormant Bitcoin account with 687 BTC that saw no activity for 10 years and three months moved some two weeks after the halving to $43.8 million.
Bitcoin had a wild ride Monday, and the price situation didn't change much. From passing $68,000 at one point, the digital currency plunged to $66,200 and has been making a slow climb back above $67,000 as of late Tuesday, according to data from CoinGecko.
Meanwhile, it appears Bitcoiners have retained their trust in the asset's potential despite plunging prices. Just this week, DeFi Technologies announced it has adopted its own BTC treasury strategy, mirroring the business growth route Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy has taken for years.
