A Bitcoin wallet that had remained dormant since 2013 just woke up. Someone—or some entity—holding 909.38 BTC transferred the entire stash, now worth $84.6 million, to a fresh address this week, setting off a fresh round of speculation about what drives these ultra-long-term holders.
Arkham Intelligence traced the wallet back to 2013, when Bitcoin traded below $7. The owner’s original investment was around $6,400. That position is now worth nearly 14,000 times what they paid. If the same funds had been invested in a basic S&P 500 fund, their current value would be $37,000, representing a respectable 481% return, but not significantly transformative. Gold climbed about 150% in the same window.
Ancient Whales Surface Amid Security Concerns
This transfer is part of a wider pattern. Old wallets have been coming back online throughout 2024 and into 2025, collectively shifting more than $50 billion in Bitcoin. Blockchain records show tens of thousands of these vintage coins eventually moved to exchanges or new storage setups.
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Industry experts say that quantum risk is a big reason why old dormant wallets are shifting cryptocurrency to new addresses. Experts in the field of cryptography are raising concerns about the possibility of future quantum computers breaching Bitcoin’s signature system. Old coins are especially exposed because their public keys are already visible on the blockchain. While most experts concur that practical quantum attacks are still years away, some researchers are advocating for preventive upgrades. That concern alone might prod cautious early adopters to relocate their holdings.
What happens next matters. Analysts are watching to see if these coins hit known exchange addresses, which is usually the first sign of someone preparing to cash out.
