One of Bitcoin’s early-era addresses has awakened after nearly 13 years of silence, moving tens of millions of dollars’ worth of BTC and joining a growing list of long-dormant wallets that are suddenly active again.
Blockchain trackers spotted activity on Thursday from an address first funded in 2012, when bitcoin traded near $12.
The wallet shifted 137 BTC – now valued at about $15.6 million – splitting most of it to a new destination and sending a small portion to crypto exchange Kraken. Analysts say the latter move could hint at a partial cash-out.
Back in 2012, that same batch of coins was worth barely $5,400. Today, the untouched remainder of the wallet still holds more than 300 BTC, equal to roughly $35 million — a 9,300x gain on paper.
The reactivation is part of a trend. In July, Galaxy Digital helped liquidate more than 80,000 BTC on behalf of an early holder, a deal worth over $9 billion at the time.
Another whale this month rotated billions from BTC into ETH, building one of the largest Ethereum holdings on record. And just last week, a separate stash of 479 BTC ($53 million) moved after sitting idle since 2012.
These movements often grab attention not just for their size, but for their symbolism: coins mined or bought in Bitcoin’s infancy, untouched through multiple boom-and-bust cycles, are finally being mobilized.
Whether for estate planning, diversification, or profit-taking, the sudden activity reminds markets that even “lost” or forgotten coins can resurface at any moment.
