Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham raised eyebrows yesterday when it noted that nearly $540 million in Bitcoin (BTC) sitting still since 2018 was deposited to the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance. The price of Bitcoin has increased in value monumentally since then, meaning whoever owns the mystery stash that moved yesterday has accrued some serious gains.
Investors usually hold their breath in the face of the emergence of long-dormant Bitcoin whales as such transfers are often seen as bearish if they dump their precious coins on the open market.
Ancient Bitcoin Whale Resurrects
In the Bitcoin world, many holders have held onto their coins through various market cycles, underscoring the value of long-term HODLing. Nevertheless, the crypto community watches old whale wallets with bated breath as selling the coins could upset the market dynamics.
On Tuesday, Arkham Intelligence observed that 8,000 BTC was shifted to Binance after sitting still for five and a half years at a Coinbase cold storage wallet. The hefty BTC payout was first sent to the Bitcoin address identified as “1ABww1…mCSKq”, before being moved to a Binance deposit address exactly one block and 11 minutes later. Arkham notes that the unidentified whale did not conduct any test transactions before the two transfers.
The Coinbase cold-storage wallet in question originally purchased the 8,000 BTC stash on Dec. 5, 2018, for just over $30 million, when Bitcoin was changing hands at roughly $3,810 per coin amid a crash. Since then, the value of the BTC holdings in this wallet has shot up by over 14 times to $537.8 million. This means that if sold, it would net the whale over half a billion dollars in profit.
Potential Impact Of Sudden Movement
Historically, when large amounts of crypto are transferred to exchanges, it often indicates that whales are planning to sell, which often exerts downward pressure on prices.
This isn’t the first time this year that massive long-dormant BTC transactions have been spotted. ZyCrypto reported that 1,000 BTC was shifted when the BTC price was at $69K in March, a Satoshi-era wallet moved 687 BTC in May, and over $60 million worth of Bitcoin was moved at $61,107 per coin last month.
Such activity comes amid renewed optimism for Bitcoin adoption following the historic launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States in January and potential sovereign adoption as crypto-friendly leaders in major economies make bullish moves.
At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is currently $69,427, having bounced back following its trip below $67,000 on Tuesday. The maiden cryptocurrency, however, is still down roughly 5.8% from its March all-time high of $73,737.
