Key Takeaways
- The original 8,000 BTC was received by a Coinbase cold-storage wallet on December 5, 2018
- The initial investment of $30.4 million has now ballooned to roughly $535 million
A Bitcoin address that had been inactive for nearly 5.5 years has suddenly become active, transferring a massive 8,000 BTC, worth approximately $535 million, to the Binance exchange.
The Bitcoin wallet in question last showed activity in 2018, when it received 8,000 BTC through six separate transactions on December 5. At that time, Bitcoin was priced around $3,810 per coin. This means the initial investment of $30.4 million has now ballooned to roughly $535 million, reflecting the dramatic increase in Bitcoin’s value over the past few years.
According to leading blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, the address “1ABww1…mCSKq” received the entire 8,000 BTC stash at block 847,490 on June 11 at 1:26 pm UTC. Just one block and 11 minutes later, all the Bitcoin was transferred to the Binance deposit address “15u4H…rMsLa.” Notably, no test transactions were made prior to these two transfers, which is unusual for such a significant amount.
The original 8,000 BTC was received by a Coinbase cold-storage wallet on December 5, 2018, mostly in batches of 200 BTC. With Bitcoin currently valued at approximately $535 million, it remains to be seen whether the investor will liquidate their assets amidst ongoing market changes.
Dormant wallets waking up to move Bitcoin have been a common occurrence in recent months. On-chain analytics Firm Lookonchain recently reported that another dormant whale abruptly sent more than $74.3 million in Bitcoin to Binance after being inactive for around eight months.
Many believe that dormant wallets may be waking up to sell Bitcoin at an opportune time while others state that it might just be a precaution against a potential bear market. A recent report by Chainalysis and Fortune has revealed that despite at least one of these early-day Bitcoin wallets waking up each month, nearly 1.8 million Bitcoin addresses have remained dormant for over a decade.
