A Bitcoin whale that has been dormant for 10 years awakens, transferring $156 million to an exchange.

A Bitcoin whale that had not moved funds since 2012 suddenly woke up on September 11, transferring 137 BTC (approximately $15.6 million) from its long-held wallet, with part of the funds flowing to a large exchange, raising market concerns about potential selling pressure. This batch of Bitcoin was purchased at a price of only $12 that year and has now surged over 10,000% in value.

On-chain data reveals Whale movements

The blockchain tracking platform Lookonchain discovered that three associated addresses hold a total of 955 BTC (approximately 108 million USD). This time, a total of 137 BTC was transferred out, with 5 BTC flowing to an exchange, indicating that some funds may be used for cashing out.

Last active time: 2012

Price at that time: 12 USD/BTC

Total value at that time: about 10,000 USD

Current price: about 113,000 USD/BTC

Current total value: over 108 million USD

Dormant Wallets Awakening as a New Trend

(Source: CryptoQuant)

This is not an isolated incident. On-chain data shows that since March, over 604,000 BTC held for 3 to 5 years have been transferred on-chain.

Recent similar cases include:

July: Galaxy Digital completed a BTC transaction worth $9 billion with a holder from the Satoshi era.

August: Another whale transferred billions of dollars in BTC to Ethereum, causing a brief market downturn.

These long-term holders usually go through multiple bull and bear cycles without easily touching their assets, so sudden transfers are often seen as an important signal for the market.

Why transfer at this time? Multiple interpretations

Analysts have different opinions on this type of transfer behavior:

Profit-taking: As BTC breaks through $110,000 to reach a new high, long-term holders choose to lock in huge gains.

Portfolio Rebalancing: Some funds may shift towards Ethereum or altcoins to diversify risk and seek higher returns.

Institutional demand is rising: reflecting the interest of large institutions in crypto assets, whales may take this opportunity to conduct over-the-counter trading or asset allocation.

Market Impact and Follow-up Observation

Although the scale of this transfer is not huge compared to the overall market liquidity, the awakening of long-dormant wallets often triggers fluctuations in market sentiment.

In the short term, investors will closely follow:

1. Is there more BTC inflow to the exchange?

2. Are whales continuously reducing their holdings?

3. Will this wave of transfer trigger a chain reaction that affects the price trend of BTC?

Conclusion

This Bitcoin whale, which has been dormant for ten years, turned a cost of 12 USD into a current value of over 100 million USD, making it a “legendary position” in the history of crypto. However, choosing to transfer and partially flow to exchanges at a time when the market is hitting new highs undoubtedly adds new uncertainty to the market. Whether this is simply profit-taking or a precursor to a new round of capital flow remains to be seen.