Whale wallet alert – Bitcoin is under pressure, slipping to $61,000 – and one huge Bitcoin whale wallet, owned by a BTC miner has moved 50 BTC to Coinbase – in its first move in over a decade.
Following a recent market scare that saw Bitcoin prices dip below $61,000, onchain data on April 15 revealed a rare occurrence: one of the original Bitcoin miners, after a hiatus of nearly 14 years, transferred 50 BTC (approximately $3.28 million) to Coinbase, a leading crypto exchange by trading volume.
Early Bitcoin Miner Moves 50 BTC To Coinbase Exchange
According to on-chain data, the miner received the 50 BTC on April 23, 2010, and has held them for over a decade.
If anything, this miner was among the first supporters of the network, helping secure it together with Satoshi Nakamoto and Hal Finney. At that time, mining was possible using a CPU, and block rewards stood at 50 BTC.
The owner’s identity remains unknown, considering the pseudonymous nature of crypto transactions. However, this will change should law enforcement and tax officials ask Coinbase to divulge data.
The motivation behind this decision remains a mystery. Historically, miners have tended to sell off their coins before halving events, which can pressure prices. However, despite prices reaching all-time highs, the recent drop in the BTC suggests a different scenario.
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To illustrate, after soaring to as high as $73,800 in mid-March 2024, prices plunged to $60,000 before bouncing to spot levels.
Technically, BTC remains within a wide range, with caps at $60,000 and $73,800, though the uptrend remains, and even though prices are trending lower, BTC is still up roughly +120% in the last trading year.
The Bottom Line: BTC Float Higher Post Halving
While history tends to repeat, ahead of the halving event on April 19, there is no solid data suggesting whales and Bitcoin miners have been liquidating their holdings like before in anticipation of heightened competition and resource demand post-halving.
Even with prices tanking, the uptrend, as mentioned earlier, is valid. Some supporters predict the coin will soar to as high as $150,000 or even $1 million in the months ahead.
Possible drivers of demand include the deluge of capital from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and rising adoption across the globe.
Indeed, just today, Hong Kong regulators approved the first spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
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Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.