What led to the Bitcoin whale’s sudden activity after a decade?
- An ancient Bitcoin whale transferred $630,000 to Kraken, reviving interest in its activity. Bitcoin’s price remained bullish, up 1.65% to $65,644 amid recent whale transactions.
In a striking development, an ancient Bitcoin [BTC] whale (aka Satoshi-era wallet) has re-emerged, having first mined its coins in the early days of BTC in 2009.
Recent analysis from Arkham Intelligence revealed that this long-dormant address transferred a substantial $630,000 worth of Bitcoin to the Kraken exchange on the 14th of October.
This activity reignited interest in the whale’s previous activities.
Over the past two months, this wallet has moved nearly $5.5 million BTC, while retaining a staggering $75.23 million in assets.
Source: Arkham Intelligence/X
An effect of the Satoshi hype?
This coincided with, HBO’s recent documentary, “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” which suggested that Peter Todd may be the mysterious figure behind Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
However, Todd has publicly refuted these assertions, firmly stating that,
“I am not Satoshi,”
Some may speculate that the recent transfer by the ancient BTC whale was a strategic move to capitalize on the buzz surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity. But this notion didn’t hold up after deeper inspection.
This is because the whale had made another transaction that mirrored the size of the latest transfer on the 7th of October, one day before the documentary was aired.
Details of the previous transfer
On the 24th of September, analysts at Arkham Intelligence highlighted another transaction. The original Bitcoin miner possessed approximately $77 million worth of BTC from the network’s early days.
This miner “woke up” on-chain just three weeks ago after a decade of inactivity and witnessed their holdings swell from $474,000 to an impressive $80 million during that dormant period.
Source: Arkham Intelligence/X
Another notable example occurred in May 2020 when many believed that Satoshi had initiated a transfer from a long-dormant wallet, which briefly impacted Bitcoin’s price.
Subsequent investigations, however, revealed that this transaction had no ties to Satoshi.
Satoshi-era Bitcoin movements—A brief history
For those unaware, the trend of Satoshi-era Bitcoin movements gained attention in November 2020 when 50 coins, worth over $700,000 at the time, were transferred to a single address after remaining untouched since 2010.
This initial transaction was soon followed by a series of four additional transactions that collectively “awakened” over $30 million worth of BTC.
In a similar vein, February and March 2021 saw the activation of nearly 7,000 BTC attributed to the Satoshi era.
While the reasons behind these significant movements remain unclear, the consistent factor influencing these decisions appears to be the price dynamics of the digital asset.
The recent activity from the Bitcoin whale confirmed this, as the transfer occurred amid the cryptocurrency’s bullish market performance.
The latest update from CoinMarketCap highlighted a 1.65% increase in the past 24 hours, bringing Bitcoin’s price to $65,644, at press time.
Take a Survey: Chance to Win $500 USDT
Previous: Why is Bitcoin going up today? This historical trend could be key Next: Will XRP rally to $0.59 or drop to $0.48?
Source