Crypto Whales at Play? Dormant $2 Billion in Bitcoin Shift During Price Correction
A staggering $2 billion worth of Bitcoin has recently started moving across multiple wallet addresses that are believed to belong to a single entity. These funds had been dormant since 2019, with their last movement occurring in 2013. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence noted that the Bitcoin being moved had historically followed a consistent pattern of movement, despite being spread across different addresses.
The funds were consolidated from 49 Bitcoin addresses and condensed into just five addresses, with each holding between 8,000 BTC and 12,000 BTC, equivalent to $380 million and $480 million. If these funds do indeed belong to one entity, it is likely that they have been spread out across various addresses to ensure their security by using cold storage.
Interestingly, this movement of $2 billion in Bitcoin comes during a correction in the cryptocurrency’s price. Bitcoin had surged by approximately 160% in the past year due to anticipation of the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US, which was expected to attract institutional and retail investor demand. A spot Bitcoin ETF enables investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency through a regulated product, without the need to manage private keys.
Furthermore, this transfer of funds coincided with Bitcoin miner reserves hitting their lowest level since July 2021, with a total of 1.83 million BTC remaining, worth $78 billion. It is worth noting that this movement occurred shortly after the largest Bitcoin transaction of the year, wherein a BTC whale moved a staggering $665 million worth of cryptocurrency in a single transaction.
As cryptocurrency market dynamics continue to captivate observers, the movements of crypto whales and their strategic actions remain a subject of fascination and speculation among industry participants.