A long-dormant bitcoin whale has re-emerged, transferring more than $1.26 billion worth of BTC this week after years of inactivity. On-chain data shows three wallet addresses, likely linked to the same entity, moved a total of 10,603 BTC late Tuesday, marking one of the largest dormant wallet activations in recent months.
The three addresses were first funded on December 13, 2020, when Bitcoin was trading around $18,807. Each received between 3,000 and 4,000 BTC, according to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, which cited data from Arkham Intelligence.
Two of the wallets had remained untouched until now. The third had only shown minimal activity, sending out just 7 BTC across two small transactions around three years ago.
Late Tuesday night, all three wallets transferred their entire holdings to newly created, unidentified addresses. The destination wallets have not moved the bitcoin since. There is no indication yet of any selling or exchange activity linked to the transferred funds.
While the exact identity of the whale remains unknown, Arkham data shows all three wallets previously interacted with a common address: 1CMbV…mMUZL. That shared history has led analysts to believe the addresses are likely controlled by the same individual or organization.
The timing of the transfers has drawn attention. Bitcoin has been on an extended rally over the past few weeks, reaching a high above $123,000 earlier this month at 12:35 a.m. On Wednesday, bitcoin was trading at $118,841.50, up 1.47% over the previous 24 hours.
Lookonchain posted about the movements on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “3 wallets (likely belonging to the same whale) just transferred 10,606 $BTC ($1.26B) out after being dormant for 3-5 years. All 3 wallets received $BTC on Dec 13, 2020, when the price of $BTC was $18,807.”
The move follows a similar whale awakening earlier this month. In that case, a bitcoin address active during the so-called Satoshi era, dating back to April 2011, suddenly transferred more than 80,000 BTC, worth around $9.5 billion at the time.
That whale sent the funds to Galaxy Digital, with Lookonchain suggesting it could be preparing to offload the holdings through the firm’s over-the-counter desk.
Such movements are closely watched in the crypto market, particularly when they involve large amounts of previously dormant coins. While there is no immediate sign of selling in this case, the reactivation of old holdings often raises speculation about shifting market dynamics, liquidity planning, or changes in long-term investment strategy.
For now, the $1.26 billion in newly moved bitcoin remains untouched.