A long-silent Bitcoin wallet has unexpectedly reactivated after eight years of dormancy. As reported by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, this significant wallet has transferred over $250 million in Bitcoin.
The transactions occurred in the past 16 hours, revealing that the wallet’s value has surged from around $3 million in early 2017 to over $250 million today. Prior to the transfers that took place yesterday, the wallet had stored its Bitcoin (BTC) in a single address for more than eight years.
Transaction details, visible on Arkham’s monitoring dashboard, indicate that the funds were transferred between several wallets labeled as “250M BTC Whale” addresses.
Specifically, the transactions took place in two batches approximately 14-16 hours ago, with each transfer involving around 3,000 BTC, valued at roughly $252 million per transfer.
Whale acquired Bitcoin when prices were around $1,000
As per the transaction history, the Bitcoin was initially purchased in 2016, when BTC was trading at approximately $1,000 or lower.
Prior to these recent transfers, the last activities from these wallets date back about eight years, as indicated by the timestamps in Arkham’s data—the early transactions from 2016 reflect the accumulation of Bitcoin when its value was considerably lower.
The awakening of dormant wallets from Bitcoin’s earlier years has become increasingly uncommon. These occurrences provide insights into the substantial wealth generation experienced by early adopters who held onto their investments through various market cycles.
While some long-term holders continue to keep their Bitcoin, industry experts are debating the future viability of Bitcoin’s traditional four-year market cycle. Tomas Greif, Chief of Product & Strategy at Braiins, recently questioned the sustainability of these cycles:
“Is the 4-year bitcoin cycle dead? Initially, halvings significantly impacted supply. However, with most BTC already mined, their impact is diminishing. In a few more halvings, the influence on supply will be minimal,” Greif stated.
He suggests that while historical patterns may persist as a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” the fundamental effects of halvings on Bitcoin’s supply diminish with each cycle. Greif underscored that halvings will continue to influence Bitcoin mining economics independently of market cycles.
