A Bitcoin Whale Slept for 12 Years — Then Woke Up Sitting on 89x Gains

TLDR

• A dormant Bitcoin wallet, inactive since November 2013, transferred 500 BTC worth around $40.6 million on Sunday.
• The coins were moved to a new wallet address not linked to any known crypto exchange.
• When the Bitcoin was first acquired, 500 BTC was worth around $457,000 — it has since grown roughly 89 times in value.
• The reason for the move is unclear, though such transfers can sometimes precede a sale.
• This follows a broader trend of dormant wallets waking up since Bitcoin crossed $100,000 in late 2024.

A long-dormant Bitcoin wallet that had been untouched for over 12 years moved $40.6 million in BTC on Sunday, according to blockchain data.

A dormant address containing 500 $BTC (40,717,094 USD) has just been activated after 12.5 years (worth 482,898 USD in 2013)!https://t.co/OBUcZ1rXQg

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) May 10, 2026

The wallet, identified by the address beginning “1KAA8,” transferred 500 BTC at around 3:16 p.m. ET. The coins landed in a new address not connected to any known exchange, according to data from blockchain tracking services Whale Alert and Arkham.

The original Bitcoin was acquired on November 27, 2013. At that time, 500 BTC was worth roughly $457,000. Today, those same coins are valued at around $40.6 million — a gain of about 89 times the original value.

The reason for the move is not known. Large holders sometimes move coins between wallets for security or address management reasons. But transfers like this can also come before a sale or a move to an exchange.

Because the destination wallet does not appear to be linked to any exchange, no immediate sale can be confirmed.

A Pattern of Dormant Wallets Waking Up

This is not an isolated event. Dormant Bitcoin wallets have been moving coins more frequently since Bitcoin first passed the $100,000 mark in late 2024.

The trend peaked in July 2025, when eight wallets from the early days of Bitcoin — each holding 10,000 BTC — moved coins for the first time in 14 years. Those moves happened while Bitcoin was trading above $100,000.

More recently, an Ethereum investor who had been inactive since July 2015 moved $23 million in ETH to a new wallet last month.

These events reflect the growing number of early crypto holders who acquired digital assets when prices were a fraction of what they are today.

Bitcoin’s Price at the Time of the Transfer

Bitcoin was trading between $81,000 and $82,000 at the time of the transfer on Sunday. In the 24 hours prior, the price added about 1.2%, according to market data.

The coin had climbed from around $66,000 the previous month. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was changing hands near $80,700, down just over 1% since midnight UTC.

The 500 BTC moved on Sunday would have been acquired when Bitcoin was priced at around $914 per coin based on the original wallet value.

Early holders who bought or mined Bitcoin at those prices are sitting on returns that dwarf almost any traditional investment over the same period.

Whether the wallet owner intends to sell remains unknown. The coins are now sitting in a new address, and blockchain trackers will be watching closely for any further movement.

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