Long Dormant Whale Sends $61M BTC to Coinbase, On-Chain Data Shows

The so-called old hands have been selling coins this quarter, adding to bearish pressures in the market.

A whale wallet that last saw activity six years ago has moved 1,000 bitcoin (BTC) to Coinbase, on-chain data showed Friday.

The crypto wallet, 12EMDoUhaNCuWZeeT6ey61AkjKyzmjV2m3, shifted the coins to Coinbase Pro, as noted by blockchain analytics firms Lookonchain and Arkham Intelligence. The 1,000 BTC, acquired in 2016 for $6.68 million, were now worth over $61 million. A whale is a wallet that holds 1000 BTC or more.

This quarter has seen a trend of dormant bitcoin wallets, defined as those that have not moved coins for at least six months, coming to life and sending crypto to exchanges. On Thursday, a wallet linked to a bitcoin miner woke up for the first time in 14 years, moving 50 BTC to Binance.

Analysts suggest that these dormant holders may be cashing out a portion of their holdings as prices hover near record highs, or they may be preparing to engage in speculative activities in the derivatives market.

This selling by long-term holders, coupled with faster liquidations by miners and the German government's divestment of coin holdings, has pushed prices down by almost 9% this month.

Bitcoin was trading at $61,550 at the time of writing, having failed to keep gains above the $62,000 mark at least four times since Tuesday, according to CoinDesk data.

Volatility in the price could pick up later Friday following the release of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for May. According to Bloomberg, economists expect no change in the PCE price index and a 0.1% rise in the core PCE, leading to 2.6% annual advances in the headline and core figures.

A benign inflation print could bolster the case for Fed rate cuts this year and put a floor under BTC, which currently appears set for a deeper slide toward $50,000, according to some market participants.

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Omkar Godbole is a Co-Managing Editor on CoinDesk's Markets team. He covers crypto markets, mining and Web3. Disclosure

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