Dormant BTC whale returns after 14 years, moving $16.6M of Bitcoins

A long-dormant Bitcoin wallet dating back to the earliest days of the network has suddenly come back to life, moving 150 Bitcoins after being inactive for over 14 years. 

Blockchain transactions tracker Lookonchain reported on Thursday that a “Satoshi-era” Bitcoin address, one active since 2009, transferred Bitcoin worth more than $16 million in its first onchain activity since June 2011. 

A miner wallet 18eY9o, holding 4,000 $BTC($442M), just woke up after 14 years of dormancy, transferring 150 $BTC($16.59M) out.

These 4,000 $BTC were mined in 2009 and consolidated into wallet 18eY9o in 2011.https://t.co/0REyaTurqJ pic.twitter.com/810ylfMbBL

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 24, 2025

According to Lookonchain, wallet 18eY9o mined around 4,000 Bitcoins between April and June 2009, just months after the Bitcoin network was launched by pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Data from blockchain analytics firm Nansen shows the whale currently holds approximately 3,850 Bitcoins after the transfer. 

Bitcoin was trading around $110,604 on Friday, giving the wallet’s total known holdings an estimated value of over $442 million. When the address was last active in 2011, Bitcoin was valued at less than $1, meaning the holder has seen a staggering rise in paper gains since those early mining days.

Community traces whale’s full holdings

A blockchain analyst on X, named Emmett Gallic, believes the whale was in possession of approximately 8,000 Bitcoins, held in several wallets. Over the years, Gallic propounded, portions of those holdings appear to have been consolidated or moved through other addresses. 

He added that the individual behind the wallet has been gradually liquidating part of their holdings “for years.”

According to market watchers, realized profits from old coins have been rising in 2025 due to Bitcoin’s consolidation between $100,000 to $120,000, as long-term holders take advantage of the high prices.

Earlier this year, another early Bitcoin whale moved 80,000 Bitcoins that had been dormant since 2011, reportedly sold through Galaxy Digital.

CryptoQuant contributor OnChainSchool wrote that 2025 has set a new record for the movement of old Bitcoin. The total volume of coins dormant for more than seven years that have moved this year has surpassed all previous records.

According to the data, 59,000 Bitcoins were moved in 2023, followed by 255,000 in 2024, all topped by 2025’s 270,000 Bitcoins, with more than two months left in the year. 

OnChainSchool mentioned three reasons for this surge, including old miners relocating coins to newer and more secure wallets, large holders partially liquidating positions to cash in on elevated prices, and long-term investors changing where their holdings are stored.

Bitcoin price hovers around $111,000

Despite these significant movements, Bitcoin’s price declined more than 2% over the past month, with intraday fluctuations largely contained between $107,200 and $111,500.

Persistent rejections near the $113,000 resistance level have encouraged profit-taking among traders, leaving $108,000 as the support level to watch. A breakdown below that threshold could cause further profit shedding toward $104,500, or even below $100,000, levels not seen since May.

The broader crypto market awaits fresh US inflation data, with the long-delayed Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for September expected to be released later today. Historically, CPI data has had a measurable impact on Bitcoin’s short-term volatility, evident when the king coin plummeted after August’s inflation data was released.

Investor Ted Pillows commented on X that Bitcoin’s ability to rebound from the $106,000–$110,000 range shows a strong underlying support, but “if CPI comes higher than expected, expect more pain ahead.” 

Futures activity surges on Binance

Derivatives data from Binance shows that total futures trading volume on the exchange hit $2.002 trillion in October, up from $1.95 trillion in September.

Bitcoin futures alone accounted for $543.33 billion of that total, 27.17% of Binance’s entire futures trading activity. This is an increase from September’s $418 billion and slightly above August’s $542 billion. 

Analyst Arab Chain explained that the sustained growth in futures activity could mean investors are looking to capitalize on short-term price swings in the coming weeks. Institutions and high-frequency traders appear to be using derivatives to speculate on volatility, as Bitcoin’s price continues consolidating near the $112,000 level.

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