Sleeping Bitcoin Giant Awakens: €155 Million Moved After 13 Years of Silence #
A notable movement in the Bitcoin market has caught traders’ attention. A so-called BTC whale has moved a very large amount of old bitcoins after more than 13 years of inactivity. The question, of course, is why this is happening now. Are the coins simply being moved, or is there another reason behind the shift?
Old Bitcoins Turn Out to Be Casascius Coins #
An account named ‘TimechainBot’ shared two different transactions. In total, a staggering 2,000 BTC were moved, worth nearly $180 million (€155 million). These tokens had been dormant for over 13 years. These specific bitcoins originate from Casascius Coins, a type of physical bitcoin.
In 2011, American entrepreneur Mike Caldwell began selling these special physical tokens. Each coin has a holographic sticker that only the owner can remove to access the digital wallet with the corresponding amount of BTC. The values range from 1 BTC to 1,000 BTC.
Caldwell’s company stopped producing the physical coins in 2013 when regulators concluded it did not have the proper financial registrations and licenses. This ended the project, although some of the physical coins remain in circulation.
Awakening Whales Spark Fear in the Crypto Market #
The question now is why this large amount of old bitcoins is suddenly being moved. The exact reason is unknown. There are several possibilities. The owner might be reorganizing their assets, or this could be the first step toward a potential sale.
Another plausible explanation is that the move is intended to preserve access to the funds. The physical components of Casascius Coins can degrade over many years, so owners sometimes take precautions to move their private keys to a modern wallet.
Despite the lack of clear information, the market nervously watches as a large amount of old bitcoins could be heading for sale, causing short-term nervousness among traders.