A Bitcoin (BTC) wallet untouched since 2012 moved all 600 BTC it held on Tuesday, shifting more than $51 million after sitting idle for over 14 years.
Key Points:
- A wallet that first received its coins in 2012 moved 600 BTC on Tuesday, its first transfer in 14.2 years.
- The on-chain record shows a move to a new address, not a confirmed sale.
- Four decade-old wallets have shifted 1,971 BTC, worth about $161 million, in roughly two weeks.
Bitcoin Wallet Moves 600 BTC
Galaxy Research flagged the transfer at 7:22 a.m. UTC on Tuesday, saying the address first received its coins on Jul. 14, 2012. It then sat untouched for 14.2 years before signing a transaction in block 968116.
On-chain monitor Lookonchain spotted the same move and said the wallet got its coins when Bitcoin traded near $8, making the original stake worth about $4,800. Bitcoin sold for $85,252.28 when the coins moved, which put their value at roughly $51.15 million. Galaxy logged a realized profit of $48.71 million on the transfer.
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Glassnode, Fundstrat On Bitcoin
The move came as analytics firm Glassnode said Bitcoin's MVRV ratio had crossed back above its 365-day average, the same signal that marked the start of bull markets in 2019 and 2023.
Sean Farrell, head of digital assets at Fundstrat, argued Monday that the crypto winter is over, though he warned the path higher may not be a straight line. Bitcoin traded at $85,686 at 10 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, down about $353 from a day earlier.
Traders watch old wallets closely. Analysts often read such transfers as a sign that early holders may sell, but the coins can also be heading to new cold storage or a custodian. For now, the blockchain shows only a move between addresses.
Dormant Bitcoin Wallets Wake Up
The 2012 wallet is the latest of several old addresses to stir, as four wallets idle for more than a decade moved 1,971.03 BTC, about $161 million, between Sept. 6 and Sept. 22. The biggest batch, 1,260.78 BTC worth $100.63 million, came from a 2016 address, while two 2011 wallets moved 100 BTC and 10.25 BTC.
Three of the four carry "Noah Doe" tags, labels that tie them to a New York lawsuit seeking to declare 39,069 dormant wallets abandoned property. A judge has kept that case on hold for more than three months. Still, Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said over the summer that second-quarter dormant coin movement had fallen to its lowest level since 2022.
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