80,000 Bitcoins that had been dormant for 14 years have been activated, worth nearly $8.7 billion

Recently, a notable trend has emerged in the cryptocurrency market. A batch of Bitcoin that had been dormant for 14 years has been reactivated, totaling up to 80,000 coins, valued at approximately $8.69 billion at current market prices. This event has immediately sparked widespread attention and speculation in the market.

According to on-chain data, a long-dormant Bitcoin whale account became active starting from noon yesterday. Eight associated wallet addresses were subsequently activated, which can be divided into two groups: two of the addresses received 20,000 Bitcoins each on April 2, 2011, when the price of Bitcoin was only around $0.78; the other six addresses received 10,001.5 Bitcoins each on May 4, 2011, when the price of Bitcoin was $3.37.

As of now, all 80,009 Bitcoins from these 8 addresses have been transferred to 8 new addresses, each holding about 10,000 Bitcoins. It is worth noting that these Bitcoins have not yet been transferred to any exchange, but they have already attracted significant attention from the market.

The quantity of this batch of Bitcoins is quite considerable, amounting to approximately 13.4% of the total Bitcoins held by a well-known company and 6.35% of the holdings in the known Satoshi Nakamoto address. Considering its extremely low cost price (between $0.78 and $3.37), this investment has already achieved an astonishing return of over one hundred thousand times.

The market is particularly concerned about the next move of this mysterious whale, mainly because of the huge amount of Bitcoin it holds, which may have a significant impact on the market. In contrast, the spot trading volume of a large exchange in the past 24 hours is only about 1 billion dollars. In addition, statistics show that the total amount of Bitcoin purchased by listed companies in the second quarter of 2025 is about 131,000 coins, while the net purchases of Bitcoin ETFs during the same period are about 111,000 coins, and the daily net inflow last week was only over 2,000 coins.

There are various speculations in the community regarding the identity of this Bitcoin whale. Some analyses suggest it may be an early miner, as these transactions can be traced back to early block rewards. Others speculate it might be a certain early Bitcoin evangelist. However, currently, these speculations lack solid evidence.

Regardless of the true identity of this mysterious whale, his next move could have a significant impact on the market. A large-scale sell-off could put tremendous pressure on the market and potentially affect the current bull market trend. However, even the most steadfast Bitcoin believers may find it difficult to resist the thought of cashing out in the face of such enormous paper gains.

Currently, these 80,000 Bitcoins are like a ticking time bomb, hanging over the market. It could either become a "black swan" event that triggers a market explosion or serve as a catalyst for further market increases. In any case, cryptocurrency investors need to closely monitor the development of this situation.