Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham says the recent $8.6 billion in Bitcoin that was moved on Thursday for the first time in over 14 years doesnt appear to be heading for a sell-off.There are no indications that this whale is selling Bitcoin, Arkham said in an X post on Friday.
Arkham added that the eight transfers which moved 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) at a time from eight wallets that were untouched for over 14 years may be possibly due to the owner upgrading from the original legacy wallet to a Native SegWit address, which is said to have improved security and lower fees.Arkham says Bitcoin transfer possibly related to wallet upgradeYesterdays $8 billion transfers were possibly related to address upgrades, moving from 1-addresses to bc1q-addresses, Arkham said.Source: ArkhamArkham said earlier on Friday that all the Bitcoin was originally deposited into the wallets on April 2 or May 4, 2011, and remained untouched for more than 14 years.
The firm added that the Bitcoin is now stored in eight new wallets and hasnt been moved since.In a post on the same day, blockchain research firm 10x Research said that while theres no clear evidence the large amount of Bitcoin is being prepared for sale, its analysis has long suggested that early holders are gradually offloading into ETF and corporate treasury demand.CZ says he got in too late after whale moveOnly in February, prominent Bitcoiner PlanB revealed that he converted all of his Bitcoin holdings to spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Not having to hassle with keys gives me peace of mind.
I guess I am not a maxi anymore, PlanB said in a Feb.
15 X post.Meanwhile, Coinbases head of product, Conor Grogan, raised a more alarming possibility.Grogan said theres a slight chance a hack caused the $8.6 billion Bitcoin transfer, and if so, it could be the largest robbery ever.Related: Bitcoin miners gambled on AI last year, and it paid offIf true (again, Im speculating on straws here), this would be by far the largest heist in human history, Grogan said in an X post on Friday,The transfers caught the attention of the broader crypto industry, with some taking a light-hearted approach.
Binance former CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao said, I got into crypto too late.After seeing the 2011 whales casually moving crypto they got for $0.1, Zhao added.Magazine: Bitcoin vs stablecoins showdown looms as GENIUS Act nears