Dormant Bitcoin Whale Awakens After Decade-Long Slumber—Last Active at $12 per BTC, Now Sending Fortune to Kraken

Sleeping giant stirs—massive Bitcoin holdings from the sub-$12 era just hit the move.

The Awakening

A cryptocurrency wallet dormant since Bitcoin traded at laughable prices has abruptly reactivated. This isn't just any holder—it's a whale from the prehistoric days of crypto, now shifting a fortune to major exchange Kraken.

Timing the Tides

No one knows why they’ve chosen now to make a move. Market cycles? Personal liquidity needs? Pure whimsy? Whatever the reason, it’s a stark reminder that early adopters still hold keys to monumental wealth—while the rest of us chase pumps and pray for dips.

Legacy Meets Liquidity

Sending to an exchange usually signals one thing: intent to trade. Whether cashing out or repositioning, this whale’s activity could ripple through markets. After all, when someone who bought at $12 decides to make a move, even Wall Street’s ‘digital asset strategists’ suddenly remember how to use the word ‘volatility.’

In the end, it’s just another day in crypto—where life-changing gains meet the brutal irony of modern finance: the early believers actually win, while the suits are still trying to figure out what a hardware wallet is.

Dormant Bitcoin wallets resurface

This movement fits into a recent trend of long-dormant Bitcoin wallets reawakening after several years of inactivity.

For context, CryptoSlate reported that Galaxy Digital executed a $9 billion Bitcoin sale in July linked to a Satoshi-era holder. Another whale investor steadily rotated billions from Bitcoin into ethereum in August, causing a brief market decline for the top crypto.

In addition, CryptoQuant analyst JA Maartunn pointed out that these transfers are not isolated cases, as more than 604,000 BTC aged three to five years have moved on-chain since March.

This surge in wallet activity marks one of the most significant behavioral shifts among long-term Bitcoin holders in recent memory. Investors in this cohort typically endure multiple market cycles without moving their coins, so their sudden transfers carry weight.

Against that backdrop, many analysts see the transfers as profit-taking, with holders choosing to lock in gains as Bitcoin breaks through the $110,000 mark to new highs.

However, others interpret the activity differently. They suggest it reflects portfolio rebalancing of rotating capital from Bitcoin into Ethereum and select altcoins as institutional demand for crypto rises.