Ancient Bitcoin Wallets Move $22 Million in BTC After 14 Years

Tens of millions of dollars worth Bitcoin left untouched in wallets since 2011—when the asset was trading for around $1—has been moved after 14 years.

Six ancient BTC addresses holding a total of 250 BTC, nearly $22 million worth at today’s price, moved the assets to new locations Monday after sitting untouched for all those years.

Blockchain data shows that the wallets are so old, they used legacy addresses—those first used when the protocol went live. Such addresses are now seldom used for sending and receiving Bitcoin. 

Movements from big “HODLers” can spook investors, as industry observers and traders often expect selling action with such large transfers. Bitcoin has taken a nosedive the past couple of weeks as investors have exited positions from risk-on assets, mainly thanks to President Trump’s trade war and sticky inflation in the U.S. 

It isn’t clear where the investor moved all the coins to, but one address was linked to British fintech Revolut. It’s possible the holder is preparing to cash out as macroeconomic uncertainties spook crypto markets.

The earliest wallet received 50 BTC in February 2011, when the coin was priced slightly over $1—meaning the mystery investor has unrealized gains of over 8,310,400%.

In 2011, the price of the oldest crypto broke past $1 to reach nearly $30—before crashing down again. It closed the year at a little over $4 per coin. 

It isn’t clear who the wallets belong to, but large holders of the cryptocurrency have been moving their coins lately. Just last month, an address holding 50 BTC mined some 15 years ago—when the coins were worth about $0.10 each—suddenly started moving coins worth roughly $5 million in total.

Even though Monday’s transactions moved an enormous amount of crypto, the holder did not have enough of a stash to be considered a “whale”: A stash of over 1,000 BTC—today worth nearly $88 million—constitutes a “Bitcoin whale.”

Blockchain data doesn’t reveal if such investors are individuals or companies. 

Bitcoin is currently trading for $87,935 after recovering following a dip as low as $81,688 on Monday. The asset is more than 20% below its January all-time high of $108,786, CoinGecko data shows.

Edited by Andrew Hayward and Sebastian Sinclair