After 10,000 BTC suddenly went missing in its wallet, Bitcoin ( BTC ) hodlers have questions.
On-chain data flagged Aug. 28-29 confirmed that a large chunk of Bitcoin was liquid again after almost a decade.
Bitcoin’s “Lawless Era” hit the road
An analyst noticed unusually high transaction volumes for the first time this weekend when 5,000 BTC was added to a block.
The funds had remained in the same wallet from 2013, but the owner is unknown. They were quickly joined by a nearly identical 5,000 BTC one day later.
The total amount of 10,000 BTC was moved for the first-time since 2013. On-chain sleuths were curious about the motives of the whale in command.
Analysing the destination wallets revealed that the funds weren’t sent to an exchange for sale. They were instead split between a number of new wallets.
Maartunn, who contributes to the on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant suggested that privacy might play a role in the decision.
Quick investigation of @IT_Tech_PL
1. Bitcoin moved to a new address. From a new address to multiple addresses with small amounts
Basically the scenario as @ki_young_ju described herehttps://t.co/FHgIJsv24P
— Maartunn (@JA_Maartun)
August 29, 2022
Maartunn was referring to comments by CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju. He argued last week that people who own “older” coins (especially large amounts) need to keep their wealth secret to avoid drawing attention. BTC/USD traded at an average of $1,165 in 2013.
These coins were “minted during the lawless era,” according to Ki.
“We discovered that these whales were very likely: a. early visionaries who accumulated bitcoin through mining and trading; and b. coins coming from Cryptsy bitcoin currency exchange just before it’s ‘hacked. (allegedly stolen customer funds).” A CryptoQuant research piece on old fund movements, Aug. 3 to.
Only six transactions like these have been recorded in Bitcoin history
The transactions were picked up at the Whale Shadows indicator created by Philip Swift, creator and administrator of LookIntoBitcoin’s on-chain analytics resource.
Related to US Dollar Hits New 20-Year High — 5 Things You Need To Know In Bitcoin This Week
The data clearly showed the two spikes in older coins and prompted discussion about their implications for BTC price action.
Swift and CryptoQuant demonstrated that previous spikes were local highs for Bitcoin/USD in the history of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin whale shadows annotated chart. Source: Philip Swift/ Twitter
and other social media commentators also suggested the funds were linked to Mt.’s rehabilitation process. Gox.
Cointelegraph reported that was concerned that the weekend would see creditors receive their compensation. This sparked a sell-off and ultimately proved to be unfounded.
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