A bitcoin whale that went silent in 2013 moves $40 million in BTC

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email A bitcoin whale that went silent in 2013 moves $40 million in BTC A long-dormant whale woke up Sunday, moving millions worth of bitcoin on-chain. By Omkar Godbole | Edited by Sam Reynolds May 11, 2026, 4:06 a.m. 1 min read Make preferred on Dormant whale wakes up. (makabera/Pixabay) What to know : A long-dormant bitcoin “whale” wallet moved about $40 billion in BTC on Sunday. The transfer, detected around 7:16 p.m. UTC, shifted funds to a new address that is not associated with any known exchange, leaving the motive for the move unclear. A bitcoin whale came back to life Sunday, moving coins worth $40 billion to a new address after more than a decade of inactivity. The transfer took place at around 19:16 UTC, according to blockchain tracking service Whale Alert . The coins were moved from address “1KAA8GGhVjjUjVTz1HKAjCyGNzAKQd882j” to “bc1qm6m6d33d02edr0k8yj9jgt027zl6dvx6thjrxy.” The wallet had remained inactive since November 2013, when BTC was originally acquired and subsequently held untouched for more than a decade. The reason behind the latest transfer remains unclear. Large holders often move coins between wallets for address management or security purposes, though such activity can also precede sales or transfers to exchanges. In this case, the destination address does not appear to be linked to a known exchange wallet. Dormant bitcoin wallets have increasingly resurfaced since BTC first crossed the $100,000 mark in late 2024. Several early investors and miners have moved long-held coins over the past year, with some ultimately taking profits after bitcoin’s massive rally. The trend was most intense in July last year, when blockchain analytics firms flagged eight Satoshi-era wallets, each holding 10,000 BTC, moving their coins for the first time in 14 years. Those transfers came as bitcoin traded above $100,000 and hovered near all-time highs. As of writing, bitcoin changed hands near $80,700, down over 1% since midnight UTC, according to CoinDesk's market data . Bitcoin News More For You CME is set to let traders bet on bitcoin volatility, not just price By Omkar Godbole May 9, 2026 CME Group plans to launch bitcoin volatility futures on June 1 pending regulatory approval bringing a easy way to bet on the degree of price swings. What to know : CME Group plans to launch bitcoin volatility futures on June 1 pending regulatory approval bringing a easy way to bet on the degree of price swings. It reflects growing institutional interest in regulated volatility exposure and a broader evolution of crypto derivatives markets Read full story Latest Crypto News Policy at Consensus Miami: State of Crypto 9 hours ago Agentic commerce will run on crypto rails, PayPal and Google reps tell Consensus Miami 14 hours ago Bored Ape NFTs are finally making a comeback as crypto traders rediscover their appetite for risk 15 hours ago Trump Media’s Q1 loss widens to $406 million on bitcoin, CRO markdowns May 9, 2026 Sports betting should be regulated as a financial product, not gambling, aspiring prediction market provider says May 9, 2026 It might be too late for bitcoin’s quantum migration, Project Eleven report argues May 9, 2026 Top Stories BlackRock deepens tokenization push with new onchain fund offerings May 9, 2026 LayerZero says it ‘made a mistake’ in $292 Million Kelp exploit May 9, 2026 Crypto industry cheers Senate Clarity Act markup date as market structure push resumes May 9, 2026 Senate Banking Committee plans to hold key market structure hearing on Thursday May 8, 2026 Judge clears path for Aave to move $71 million in ETH linked to North Korea hack May 9, 2026 CME is set to let traders bet on bitcoin volatility, not just price May 9, 2026