An inactive Bitcoin wallet has reactivated after eight years without activity. A blockchain analytics company has reported that the owner has transferred more than $250 million in Bitcoin.
The activity occurred within the past 16 hours and indicates that the wallet’s value has surged from around $3 million in early 2017 to over $250 million today. Prior to these recent transfers, the wallet had held all its Bitcoin (BTC) in a single address for over eight years.
The transactions, observable on the monitoring dashboard, reveal the funds being transferred between different wallets marked as “250M BTC Whale” accounts.
These transactions were carried out in two groups approximately 14-16 hours ago, with each transfer involving about 3,000 BTC, valued at roughly $252 million for each transaction.
Whale acquired Bitcoin when it was valued around $1,000
The details of the transactions show that this Bitcoin was initially bought around 2016, when BTC was trading at about $1,000 or even lower.
Prior to these recent transactions, the last activity from these wallets was recorded about eight years ago, as indicated by the timestamps showing early purchases made in 2016, during a time when the cryptocurrency was considerably cheaper.
The reopening of dormant wallets from Bitcoin’s early days is becoming increasingly infrequent. Such events illustrate the significant wealth accumulation experienced by early investors who held onto their assets through various market fluctuations.
While some long-term holders still keep their Bitcoin, industry analysts are discussing whether the conventional four-year market cycle of Bitcoin will persist. Tomas Greif, a prominent figure in product and strategy at a leading company, has raised questions about the viability of these cycles:
“Is the four-year Bitcoin cycle effectively over? In the beginning, halvings had a substantial impact on supply. However, as the majority of Bitcoin has been mined, this effect has been lessening. After a few more halvings, it will hardly influence supply,” Greif stated.
He posits that while historical trends might continue as a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” the actual significance of halvings on Bitcoin’s supply diminishes with each cycle. Greif highlighted that halvings will still influence Bitcoin mining economics, regardless of the market cycles.