A long-dormant Bitcoin wallet came back to life on July 4th, transferring a staggering 20,000 BTC—worth over $2.1 billion at current prices—to two fresh addresses.
The wallet, belonging to one of Bitcoin’s early adopters, had been inactive since 2011. At the time of acquisition, the Bitcoin in the wallet was worth around $16,000 in total—valued at roughly $0.80 per coin. Fast forward to 2025, and that same stash is now worth over 131,000 times more.
Whale Moves 20,000 BTC in Two Separate Transactions
According to on-chain data shared by Lookonchain, the whale (identified as wallet address 12tLs9c) transferred 10,000 BTC—valued at approximately $1.09 billion—to a new wallet. Shortly after, another 10,000 BTC was moved from a separate wallet, also controlled by the same whale, to a second address.
The back-to-back transactions, both on U.S. Independence Day, drew immediate attention from analysts and traders, especially given the scale and historic context of the movement.
Bitcoin Dips Slightly as Whale Moves Coins
At the time of the transfers, Bitcoin was trading just above $108,800, down about 0.4% from the previous day’s high of over $110,000. The dip coincided with the July 4th holiday in the U.S., though it’s unclear whether the whale’s activity influenced the price.
Institutional Demand Still Strong
Despite the price pullback, institutional interest in Bitcoin remains high. On July 3, U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs saw over $602 million in inflows, according to SoSoValue. The total net assets held in crypto investment products have now surpassed $137 billion, with cumulative inflows reaching nearly $49.6 billion.