The 94,500 BTC have remained untouched since 2019 when the funds were received by the whale address.
Over the weekend, the fifth richest Bitcoin address transferred $6 billion worth of the asset to three new wallets.
The transfer occurred amid increased institutional interest in BTC, driven perhaps by the upcoming halving in April.
Bitcoin Wallet Transfers $6 Billion in Bitcoin
Initially funded with 94,500 BTC ($6.05 billion) in 2019, the address remained untouched until last weekend when it was split and distributed across three new addresses, according to blockchain analytic firm Arkham. This left only 1.4 BTC ($99,000) in the original wallet.
Initially, the funds were divided into two amounts across two separate wallets. One portion was transferred to a new wallet, while the other was divided and sent to two additional ones. As a result, the funds now reside in three wallets, with one containing $5 billion worth of Bitcoin, while the remaining amount is roughly divided between the other two.
Unlike most large Bitcoin addresses associated with exchanges, this wallet has minimal activity and shows no signs of being linked to any exchange. Miguel Morel, CEO of Arkham, mentioned that it was unusual for a wallet to remain inactive for such a prolonged period without reconfiguring or moving the customer’s cold storage. Typically, there would be some indication of exchange-related activity.
Bitcoin’s Investor Interest Grows
The large Bitcoin transfer occurred just two days before BTC surpassed the psychological price level of $70,000 on March 25 for the first time in 10 days.
Investor activity has seen a resurgence in Bitcoin accumulation off exchanges, with its supply on Coinbase dropping to a nine-year low of 344,856 BTC on March 18. Analysts suggest that while Bitcoin reached its all-time high before the halving, the expected reduction in supply issuance still has to be factored into the market’s pricing.
The ongoing rally in BTC’s price is primarily attributed to anticipation surrounding the halving event and increased institutional inflows, particularly from the newly launched Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States.
Data from Dune reveals that Bitcoin ETFs now hold a combined total of $58.3 billion in on-chain holdings, constituting 4.17% of the current BTC supply.