Key Takeaways:
- A dormant whale wallet holding Bitcoin since 2010 has just transferred 8,500 BTC (≈ $1 billion) to Galaxy Digital.
- This is the first known movement of funds from this address in over 14 years, sparking intense speculation across the crypto community.
- The massive transfer, likely an OTC deal, coincides with heightened market volatility and renewed attention on long-lost Satoshi-era wallets.
A sleeping giant in the crypto world has stirred. A whale wallet, untouched since Bitcoin’s earliest days, has made its first transaction in over a decade, sending $1 billion worth of BTC to Galaxy Digital. This unexpected move is fueling debate about market implications, ownership origin, and potential shifts in institutional crypto strategy.
Whale Wallet Sends Shockwaves Through the Market
On July 15, blockchain analytics platform Spot On Chain flagged a massive on-chain transfer: 8,500 BTC (roughly $1 billion) was sent from a Satoshi-era wallet to Galaxy Digital, a well-known crypto investment firm founded by Mike Novogratz.
Read More: Galaxy Raises $175M to Supercharge Early-Stage Crypto Startups Amid Market Headwinds
The wallet address out of which they were transferred has been inactive more than 14 years, which implies that the coins had been obtained or mined at the first years in the lifespan of Bitcoin. Spot On Chain says that this is the first-time this address ever sent out any Bitcoin since it was activated.
The transaction seems to be included in OTC (over-the-counter) deal, as it has a structure and direction. Whales and institutions hence usually use OTC trades to prevent slippage, and keep their footprint in the market small. This allows large transactions to be conducted without moving market prices abruptly.
Satoshi-Era Coins: Why It Matters
Dormant Wallets and Market Psychology
The Satoshi era Bitcoin dormant wallets dating back to before 2011 have a mythical mark in the crypto. Anytime they do this, the suspicions rise about who actually created Bitcoin in the first place, with rumors of Satoshi Nakamoto and his or her enigmatic personality or the concern that old insecure storage systems have had their keys hacked into.
Although there is no direct testimony to the fact that this wallet belonged to Satoshi, himself, the very fact that it was left unspoiled after over 14 years has given it the cloak of mystery. The coins of the wallet were no doubt mined when the value of Bitcoin was less than $0.10 and it is a good reminder of the fortunes…
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