A bitcoin whale that went silent in 2013 moves $40 million in BTC
A long-dormant whale woke up Sunday, moving millions worth of bitcoin on-chain.
By Omkar Godbole|Edited by Sam Reynolds May 11, 2026, 4:06 a.m. 1 min readMake preferred on
What to know:
- A long-dormant bitcoin “whale” wallet moved about $40 billion in BTC on Sunday.
- The transfer, detected around 7:16 p.m. UTC, shifted funds to a new address that is not associated with any known exchange, leaving the motive for the move unclear.
A bitcoin whale came back to life Sunday, moving coins worth $40 billion to a new address after more than a decade of inactivity.
The transfer took place at around 19:16 UTC, according to blockchain tracking service Whale Alert. The coins were moved from address “1KAA8GGhVjjUjVTz1HKAjCyGNzAKQd882j” to “bc1qm6m6d33d02edr0k8yj9jgt027zl6dvx6thjrxy.”
The wallet had remained inactive since November 2013, when BTC was originally acquired and subsequently held untouched for more than a decade.
The reason behind the latest transfer remains unclear. Large holders often move coins between wallets for address management or security purposes, though such activity can also precede sales or transfers to exchanges. In this case, the destination address does not appear to be linked to a known exchange wallet.
Dormant bitcoin wallets have increasingly resurfaced since BTC first crossed the $100,000 mark in late 2024. Several early investors and miners have moved long-held coins over the past year, with some ultimately taking profits after bitcoin’s massive rally.
The trend was most intense in July last year, when blockchain analytics firms flagged eight Satoshi-era wallets, each holding 10,000 BTC, moving their coins for the first time in 14 years. Those transfers came as bitcoin traded above $100,000 and hovered near all-time highs.
As of writing, bitcoin changed hands near $80,700, down over 1% since midnight UTC, according to CoinDesk's market data.
Bitcoin NewsMore For You
CME is set to let traders bet on bitcoin volatility, not just price
By Omkar GodboleMay 9, 2026
CME Group plans to launch bitcoin volatility futures on June 1 pending regulatory approval bringing a easy way to bet on the degree of price swings.
What to know:
- CME Group plans to launch bitcoin volatility futures on June 1 pending regulatory approval bringing a easy way to bet on the degree of price swings.
- It reflects growing institutional interest in regulated volatility exposure and a broader evolution of crypto derivatives markets
Policy at Consensus Miami: State of Crypto
10 hours ago
Agentic commerce will run on crypto rails, PayPal and Google reps tell Consensus Miami
15 hours ago
Bored Ape NFTs are finally making a comeback as crypto traders rediscover their appetite for risk
16 hours ago
Trump Media’s Q1 loss widens to $406 million on bitcoin, CRO markdowns
May 9, 2026
Sports betting should be regulated as a financial product, not gambling, aspiring prediction market provider says
May 9, 2026
It might be too late for bitcoin’s quantum migration, Project Eleven report argues
May 9, 2026Top Stories
BlackRock deepens tokenization push with new onchain fund offerings
May 9, 2026
LayerZero says it ‘made a mistake’ in $292 Million Kelp exploit
May 9, 2026
Crypto industry cheers Senate Clarity Act markup date as market structure push resumes
May 9, 2026
Senate Banking Committee plans to hold key market structure hearing on Thursday
May 8, 2026
Judge clears path for Aave to move $71 million in ETH linked to North Korea hack
May 9, 2026
