Why Are Sleeping Bitcoins Moving Once More?
The break of the psychological $100,000 barrier would seem to have triggered increased movement among long-term Bitcoin holders. Several early investors are seemingly taking profits, while others are presumably shifting their holdings for safety reasons.
Recent on-chain statistics indicate that 2025 has already beaten 2024 as far as long-idle Bitcoin activity is concerned. Coins which remained unspent for more than seven years totaled 255,000 BTC in 2024, but this number had already reached 270,000 BTC as of October 2025 — a record high for activity of old coins.
This suggests that more and more early-era wallets are waking up once more. Although such resurrections tend to stimulate rumors of early investors selling, they can also be the result of internal restructuring or security upgrades.
Analysts point out there are three key explanations for this surge of activity:
1. Old miners tapping into reserves from early Bitcoin times.
2. Security migrations — moving coins to new wallets with improved security.
3. Profit-taking by long-term investors who view the six-figure level as a best-exit point.
The $100k level has been a make-or-break point — much like $1 million may become for the future. In the last twelve months, Bitcoin's 3–5 year holding group has had steady selling activity, which indicates profit-taking adheres to a regular market cycle.
In contrast, the Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) in long-term holders has fallen from 4.08 in July (when BTC was at $120k) to 1.7 in recent months. This indicates that even though sellers are still selling for profit, their profits have decreased as prices stabilized.
In totality, the 2025 flow of 270,000 resting Bitcoins is a reflection of a significant rise in market supply. However, even in the face of this pressure to sell, Bitcoin's price has remained resilient — keeping buoyant above $100,000, with a recent weekly low at around $98,200.
It's an unmistakable sign that even with old coins waking up, market optimism remains high — indicating that Bitcoin's long-term holders still have faith in the narrative that they helped build.
