Bitcoin whale address moves $41 million in BTC after 12-year dormancy: onchain data

A bitcoin (BTC) whale address moved $40.6 million worth of BTC to a new address after 12 years of inactivity.

According to Arkham's onchain data, the whale moved 500 BTC from address "1KAA8…d882j" to "bc1qm…hjrxy" at around 3:16 p.m. on Sunday, ET. The bitcoin has been sitting in the former address since Nov. 27, 2013.

When the owner first received the bitcoin, 500 BTC was worth roughly $457,070, indicating that its value has appreciated about 89 times over the past 12 years. While the reason behind the move is unclear, such transfers typically precede token sales for the owner to cash out profits.

There have been several occasions where such large holders woke up after over a decade to move their crypto. Last month, an Ethereum ICO participant moved $23 million in ETH to a new wallet address after staying dormant since July 2015.

Bitcoin's price rose notably in recent weeks to trade around $81,000 to $82,000 from around $66,000 last month. In the past 24 hours, it has added 1.21% to trade at $81,721, according to The Block's bitcoin price page.