Latest news with #WhaleAlert
Newsweek
5 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Bitcoin Wallets Dormant for 14 Years Suddenly Active—and They're Worth Billions
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A staggering $2 billion worth of Bitcoin has been reactivated after more than a decade of inactivity. The digital vaults, each holding 10,000 bitcoin, were reactivated on Thursday, July 3 and Friday, July 4, after lying untouched since 2011. The wallets, tagged as " and " moved their full balances to new addresses within 30 minutes of each other. The transfers—spotted by blockchain tracking services Whale Alert and Lookonchain—mark the first time the assets have been touched in 14 years. Read more Man in legal battle to recover $800 million bitcoin fortune from landfill Man in legal battle to recover $800 million bitcoin fortune from landfill Back in 2011, when Bitcoin traded at roughly $0.78 per coin, these wallets represented a modest investment of around $7,800 each. Today, thanks to a nearly 13,982,800 percent increase, the contents of each wallet are estimated at more than $1.1 billion—placing their owners squarely in the rarefied ranks of crypto's "whale" class. "In the early days of Bitcoin, there were quite a few early enthusiasts who mined BTC or bought it for a fraction of a dollar, but most of them either sold it much earlier—for millions instead of billions—or spent it on something trivial at the time, like the two pizzas famously bought for 10,000 bitcoins in 2010," Nic Puckrin, crypto analyst, investor and founder of The Coin Bureau, told Newsweek. A file photo of golden Bitcoins, representing the digital currency. A file photo of golden Bitcoins, representing the digital currency. Tevarak/Getty Images "Holding on to such a staggering amount requires either a great deal of foresight, when the asset is already soaring by many thousands, or a great deal of forgetfulness," he explained. Despite the digital trail, little is known about the wallets' owners. The sudden activity—on consecutive days, and involving identical sums—has led analysts to believe the wallets may be linked. With the wallets now valued at over $2 billion, the bitcoin represents a 140,000-fold return on the original investments. But cashing in isn't as easy as it may seem. "There's no such thing as payouts or dividends when it comes to Bitcoin—like gold, it's simply an asset that can be sold in exchange for its market value in a fiat currency," Puckrin explained. "As long as the person still has access to the private key to the wallet where the Bitcoin is held, which it seems they do if they moved it to a new address, they can sell this Bitcoin. However, given the amount, they would have to sell it very carefully, because disposing of this amount of Bitcoin all at once could crash the price." Nobody knows the identity of the Bitcoin owner or owners, but Puckrin explained it is unlikely that they will come forward. "It's highly unlikely this person will go public, especially considering the physical danger several prominent crypto figures have found themselves in lately from so-called 'wrench attacks,' such as David Balland, co-founder of cryptocurrency wallet firm Ledger, who was kidnapped with his wife in January," he said. "Apart from that, early adopters of Bitcoin tend to value privacy and anonymity, so there's no reason why they would want to reveal their identities to the world."
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Whales Wake Up From 14-Year Slumber to Move Over $2B of BTC
When a large whale moves in the sea, it creates ripples across the water. Similarly, when a large bitcoin (BTC) holder, often referred to as a crypto whale, moves its coins on-chain, that creates buzz on social media, prompting observers to wonder if it's a prelude to a sale and downside price volatility. Early Friday, two wallets, labelled " and " moved 20,000 BTC, worth over $2 billion, to new addresses. These flows were first noted by blockchain sleuth Whale Alert, and later by Lookonchain. The addresses received these coins on April 3, 2011, when bitcoin was priced at around 78 cents. Today, BTC is over $109,000, implying a staggering 140,000-fold return for the two whale addresses, which means that they have a strong incentive to liquidate their holdings. Many long-term holders have been selling their coins ever since BTC crossed above $100,000 in May. That said, the latest transfers were made to non-exchange addresses, which have gone silent since receiving these coins. So, it's too early to conclude that the transfer operation is aimed at taking profits.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sleeping beauty bitcoin wallets wake up after 14 years to the tune of $2 billion
The bitcoin community was buzzing on Friday after two massive bitcoin wallets were activated after 14 years of silence, to the tune of more than $2 billion in potential profit. Lookonchain and Whale Alert, which each track major blockchain transactions, both flagged that 20,000 in bitcoin had been moved. Untouched up to now, the 10,000 bitcoin in each wallet had originally been deposited in 2011. As bitcoin BTCUSD was worth just 78 cents at the time and currently stands at $108,868, the value of those two wallets is now over $1.09 billion each. Now that the megabill has passed, expect a ton of short-term debt to be sold to finance the government's deficit 'I'm single': At 70, I have $500,000 in stocks and $220,000 in savings. How do I invest my $130,000 windfall? 'Today is my 61st birthday': I have my ex-spouse's Social Security benefits. Should I retire at 65 and travel? 'I do all the yard work, cooking and cleaning': I live with my daughter and her lazy boyfriend. She wants me to buy her house. Do I say yes? My wife and I are in our late 60s. Do I sell stocks to pay our $30,000 credit-card debt — or do it gradually over 3 years? According to BitInfo Charts, 18.04 million bitcoin sits in dormant accounts. Sizable inactive accounts that wake up after years of dormancy draw investor attention because of the potential market impact if those coins are sold. And this year seems to be a busy one. Onchain School, which provides blockchain analysis, reported earlier this year that long-dormant bitcoin moving in the first three months of 2025 was more than double the same period in 2024. 'On-chain data reveals that 62,800 $BTC aged over 7 years were spent between January and March 2025, versus 28,000 $BTC during Q1 2024 — marking a 121% increase in the movement of old coins,' it reported on the CryptoQuant platform. Thus far, it's not clear that the wallet owners have any intentions beyond shifting the 20,000 bitcoin, though the industry will be undoubtedly monitoring closely. That would mean that for now, they remain cryptocurrency HODLers, or those who believe in the long-term potential of bitcoin and other digital assets. Caroline Bowler, chief executive officer at Melbourne-based BTC Markets told MarketWatch that in the early days of bitcoin there was lots of conviction around HODLing bitcoin, so it's not too out of character to find evidence of investors buying and holding for so long. 'What is remarkable is the amount of self-control that it would have taken through all these market cycles to sit on it for that long,' Bowler said in a point others were making as well. Should the owners decide to sell such a sum, that's 'absolutely going to move the market,' Bowler said, though adding it's unlikely that would be done one chunk and probably sold off the market as much as possible. 'Even then you're talking about a lot of OTC [over the counter] activity to absorb 10,000. But it seems very unlikely that someone would dump 10,000 onto the market in one trade or in equivalents cross the week,' she said. Bowler said there are a number of 'dormant wallets out there with significant holdings of bitcoin that are unlikely to ever be activated because people have lost the access to it. And that's what makes it particularly of interest within the bitcoin community when you see one of these things like back up again.' Tom Lee head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors has predicted bitcoin could finish 2025 at $250,000, though his base case remains $150,000. Lee said as '95% of the world doesn't own bitcoin,' there's a huge supply/demand imbalance with more potential buyers in the next 10 years, in an interview with CNBC last month. Bitcoin's price has gained 16% this year, hitting a new record above $110,000 in May, largely driven by momentum, with record inflows into bitcoin ETFs in May. Read: You can now buy this lesser-known crypto in a traditional brokerage account. Here are the risks. 'Finance makes me break out in hives': I inherited $240K from my parents. Do I pay off my $258K mortgage and give up my job? My wife and I have $7,000 a month in pensions and Social Security, plus $140,000 cash. Can we afford to retire? The Dow and Russell 2000 are joining the stock market's party. Is it a game changer for the bulls? My job is offering me a payout. Should I take a $61,000 lump sum — or $355 a month for life? I'm a stay-at-home mom. Do I take a part-time job to spend more time with my kids — or get a job for six figures? Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Whales Wake Up From 14-Year Slumber to Move Over $2B of BTC
When a large whale moves in the sea, it creates ripples across the water. Similarly, when a large bitcoin (BTC) holder, often referred to as a crypto whale, moves its coins on-chain, that creates buzz on social media, prompting observers to wonder if it's a prelude to a sale and downside price volatility. Early Friday, two wallets, labelled " and " moved 20,000 BTC, worth over $2 billion, to new addresses. These flows were first noted by blockchain sleuth Whale Alert, and later by Lookonchain. The addresses received these coins on April 3, 2011, when bitcoin was priced at around 78 cents. Today, BTC is over $109,000, implying a staggering 140,000-fold return for the two whale addresses, which means that they have a strong incentive to liquidate their holdings. Many long-term holders have been selling their coins ever since BTC crossed above $100,000 in May. That said, the latest transfers were made to non-exchange addresses, which have gone silent since receiving these coins. So, it's too early to conclude that the transfer operation is aimed at taking profits.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Dead whale washes ashore in Richmond
RICHMOND, Calif. - A dead whale was found along the Point Isabel shoreline in Richmond Friday morning. The mammal is one of more than a dozen whales found dead in the Bay Area this year. Earlier this month, another whale washed up on Montara Beach in San Mateo County. According to the Sausalito-based Marine Mammal Center, they've responded to 17 dead gray whales in the Bay Area. It's unclear what species the Richmond whale is. Five of the dead whales have been found in recent weeks, we reported last week. Researchers with the California Academy of Sciences and the Marine Mammal Center said last week that they haven't seen so many dead whales in the region since what they call the "unusual mortality event" between 2019 and 2023. There have been 33 gray whale sightings confirmed by photo identification so far this year, compared to only four in 2024. "The migration is a little bit later than it has been in years past, and we're seeing more whales enter San Francisco Bay," Kathi George, the director of cetacean conservation biology at the Marine Mammal Center, told KTVU. "The entrance to San Francisco is a very busy area with lots of vessel traffic." If you spot a whale, you're asked to take a picture and upload it to the Whale Alert app or contact the Marine Mammal Center.
