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A Bitcoin wallet holding coins since 2013 moved 411.45 BTC worth nearly USD 34 million to a new address on October 18. The transfer followed activity involving other long-inactive holders. However, initial records showed no exchange link or outgoing transaction from the recipient, leaving the owner's plans unknown.
The wallet received most of its Bitcoin on September 11, 2013, when BTC traded near USD 131. Its 411.45 BTC balance was worth approximately USD 54,000 at that price. Using a Bitcoin price of USD 82,600, the same holdings were valued at about USD 33.99 million when they moved, more than 630 times their earlier value.
The coins stayed in the address for 13 years despite sharp price changes. During that period, Bitcoin passed through the 2017 rally, the 2022 collapse of crypto exchange FTX and the introduction of US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in 2024. The owner did not spend the original holdings before Sunday's transaction, according to the recorded wallet history.
The transaction took place at 18:23 UTC on October 18 and entered Bitcoin block 972,036. Public blockchain records show that two earlier deposits supplied the transferred balance. The wallet sent approximately 411.44999663 BTC to one receiving address and paid a network fee of 337 satoshis, equivalent to about USD 0.28 at the stated price.
The destination used a SegWit address, a newer Bitcoin format that can reduce the cost of later transactions. The transfer appears in a blockchain explorer. At the time of the initial reporting, the recipient had not sent any coins onward, and analysts had not linked it to an exchange. Records do not identify the owner or confirm any “planned sale.”
The transfer followed an October 17 transaction involving two addresses that held Bitcoin received in 2013. Together, they spent approximately 416.69 BTC in one transaction. Combined with Sunday's 411.45 BTC transfer, the three addresses moved about 828.14 BTC across two transactions, although the records do not establish that they share an owner.
Other large movements have occurred this year. An October report on a large Bitcoin whale transfer covered 4,582 BTC sent from a wallet inactive for six years. Earlier, dormant Bitcoin wallet activity in August involved wallets dating to 2014. Such transfers show older coins changing addresses, but they do not establish that their holders sold them.
The original wallet used an older Bitcoin address format, while the destination uses native SegWit, also called P2WPKH. Bitcoin Core explains that this format generally uses less transaction space and can lower future fees. The address change may reflect an update to wallet arrangements, but the records alone cannot confirm that reason.
The old address also received small deposits over the years. Arkham Intelligence labeled some sending addresses as phishing-related. These deposits can form part of “address poisoning,” a scam in which attackers try to make users copy a fraudulent address from their transaction history. The transfer did not go to a labeled phishing address. As with another 2013 whale transfer reported in May, moving coins into a private address does not establish a sale.
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