According to Whale Alert, a popular tool for tracking cryptocurrency wallets, a dormant address containing 687 BTC ($43.9 million at current prices) has been activated after more than a decade.
The sudden activation comes after the price of the leading cryptocurrency managed to reclaim the $64,000 level. The leading cryptocurrency is currently trading at $64,380, according to CoinGecko data.
However, the awakening of the Bitcoin whale is unlikely to be related to the price spike. According to Chainalysis data, there is no direct correlation between the price performance of the leading cryptocurrency and the activation of old wallets.
Tomiwabold OlajideOverall, roughly $115 billion worth of Bitcoin is currently collecting dust in wallets that have been dormant for more than 10 years. While some of these wallets tend to be activated sooner or later due to various reasons, analysts estimate that 1.5 million coins will still be lost forever.
The aforementioned Bitcoin address comes from the era of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. He resurfaced on the internet back in March 2014 to clarify that he was not Japanese American Dorian S. Nakamoto after the latter was spotlighted in a viral Newsweek story.
Of course, the transaction is extremely unlikely to be related to the mysterious Bitcoin founder himself. However, old wallets can move the markets due to being potentially associated with Satoshi. For instance, the price of Bitcoin experienced a substantial drop back in May 2020 after 50 Bitcoins mined during the first month of the cryptocurrency's existence were transferred to an unknown wallet. However, analysts were quick to conclude that these coins were not Satoshi's.
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team