A Bitcoin whale dormant since 2013 became active again on Sunday, transferring roughly $40 million in BTC after more than ten years of inactivity.
Blockchain data from Whale Alert indicates the transaction occurred at around 19:16 UTC. The funds were moved from the address “1KAA8GGhVjjUjVTz1HKAjCyGNzAKQd882j” to a new destination wallet, “bc1qm6m6d33d02edr0k8yj9jgt027zl6dvx6thjrxy.”
The wallet had remained untouched since November 2013, when the bitcoin was originally acquired and subsequently held without movement for over a decade.
The reason behind the transfer remains uncertain. Large holders often reorganize funds between wallets for security or internal management, although such activity can sometimes precede selling or deposits to exchanges. In this case, the receiving wallet does not appear to be linked to any known exchange.
Dormant wallet activity has increased since bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 level in late 2024. Over the past year, several early adopters and miners have reactivated long-held coins, with some ultimately taking profits following the market’s strong rally.
The trend was particularly evident in July last year, when blockchain analytics firms identified eight Satoshi-era wallets—each holding 10,000 BTC—moving funds for the first time in 14 years. These transfers occurred as bitcoin traded above $100,000, near its all-time highs.
At the time of writing, bitcoin was trading near $80,700, down more than 1% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk market data.
