Bitcoin Whale Moves $37M BTC After 11 Years of Dormancy

An early bitcoin (BTC) holder moved some $37 million worth of the cryptocurrency to fresh wallets after eleven years of inactivity, sparking discussions around what the intention of this could be.

The whale, a term for an influential holder of any financial asset, moved all of their 1,037.42 bitcoin to a new address "bc1qtl" in the wee hours of Wednesday. “The whale received 1,037.42 $BTC($5,107 at that time) on Apr 11, 2012, when the price was $4.92,” on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain pointed out.

Such large movements from early participants are typically uncommon. This movement could mean the holder is preparing to sell tokens, stake on an exchange, or diversify their holdings for other tokens.

The movement is the latest in a line of old wallets moving tokens such as bitcoin (BTC) or ether (ETH) to exchanges this year. In April, at least four wallets moved millions worth of bitcoin to exchanges or to other wallets.

Last week, a wallet that received over 61,000 ether (ETH) in the initial coin offering (ICO) eight years ago, transferred the entire amount to a wallet tied to crypto exchange Kraken. Those holdings are worth over $116 million at current prices and were purchased for 31 cents a token during the ICO.