A Bitcoin wallet that lay quiet for over a decade just woke up. It moved a big chunk of its stash to Binance, a major crypto exchange. This happened while Bitcoin’s price has pulled back about 10% from its all-time high.
This wallet, known as a “Bitcoin OG” because it’s been around since the early days, transferred 750 Bitcoins. That’s roughly $83.4 million worth of digital currency. Such a move usually signals a possible sale or a shift in how the owner holds their assets. This particular transfer caught the eye of market watchers because other large Bitcoin holders, often called whales, have been moving money around, sometimes even into other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum.
The story behind this particular whale is pretty wild. According to the analyst Lookonchain, this wallet first got its Bitcoins in late 2013. Back then, a single Bitcoin was worth only about $332. The 750 Bitcoins sent to Binance would have been worth just $249,000 at the time. If these Bitcoins are sold now, that’s a profit more than 334 times the original investment. Imagine that kind of return!
Lookonchain shared on X that this “Bitcoin OG” operates under the address “bc1qlf.” This term refers to someone who got into Bitcoin very early, likely between 2009 and 2013. The same entity originally received 5,000 Bitcoins, valued at $1.66 million then. It has slowly sold off 1,750 Bitcoins for a total of $189.3 million, averaging $108,160 per Bitcoin. Now, it still holds 3,250 Bitcoins, worth about $360.75 million. The estimated total profit for this holder could be as high as $550 million, a 331x return.
A Bitcoin OG “bc1qlf” sold another 750 ($83.11M) in the past 2 hours.
12 years ago, he received 5K ($1.66M then) at only $332 and only started selling after broke $90K in December 2024.
He has sold 1,750 ($189.3M) at $108,160 avg, leaving 3,250 ($360.75M).… pic.twitter.com/m3G3lhgm9C
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain)
Blockchain data, like that from Arkham Intelligence, shows the sending address “bc1q5nv3433d6zyxrtv4dwvognj9se…” made two separate transfers to Binance: one for 250 Bitcoins and another for 500 Bitcoins. This totals the 750 Bitcoins mentioned. The news outlet The Block also noted these transfers. This address previously received 1,500 Bitcoins from a related wallet, “bc1q,” which still holds about 2,500 Bitcoins, worth nearly $276.5 million. Both addresses use the Bech32 format, a type introduced to make Bitcoin transactions more efficient and secure.
Bitcoin Whales Are Stirring
This isn’t a one-off event. Over the past few months, several old Bitcoin wallets have become active again. Their owners are either moving their holdings around or sending funds to big crypto exchanges. For example, in July 2025, a whale from Bitcoin’s earliest days moved 80,000 Bitcoins, which were worth over $9 billion at the time. This huge move, which was the biggest sale of old Bitcoins ever recorded, only caused Bitcoin’s price to drop by 5%. This shows how much the market has grown and how well it can handle big sales.
Lately, some whales have even shifted part of their Bitcoin wealth into Ethereum. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has been on a strong upward trend. One case involved an entity that had been quiet for seven years. It sold over 100,000 Bitcoins to buy 62,914 Ethereum and open leveraged long positions, meaning they bet on Ethereum’s price going up.
Ethereum hit a new high of $4,950 recently. This climb was largely fueled by strong demand from big financial firms and companies. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) for Ethereum have seen record inflows, even more than their Bitcoin counterparts.
Experts see these big movements as signs of a maturing crypto market. Slava Demchuk, CEO of AMLBot, says these transfers show “old BTC whales activating.” He believes it represents a “strategic rotation to alternative assets due to growth expectations.”
However, when old wallets wake up, it doesn’t always mean an immediate rush to sell. Whales often split their holdings, move them to new wallets, or test the market with small deposits. Still, big transfers to exchanges always catch the attention of traders, especially when the market is shaky or people are feeling less willing to take risks due to broader economic factors.
Right now, Bitcoin trades for about $111,300. It’s up 1.5% in the last 24 hours but still down more than 10% from its peak of $124,000 about three weeks ago. Ethereum, meanwhile, trades around $4,585. It’s up 3.7% today and has gained almost 10% this week. (Data from CoinGecko.)