Bitcoin Whale Moves AU$1 Billion of BTC into Storage

According to the popular blockchain tracking and analysis service Whale Alert, a user has moved 13,204 BTC worth nearly AU$1 billion out of Coinbase and into an ‘unknown wallet’. This typically indicates a wealthy individual or large institution buying Bitcoin and moving it into ‘cold storage’ such as a hard wallet for safekeeping.

The transactions happened over a one-hour period and involved 34 individual transactions of around 380 BTC each worth approximately US$21 million each. The choice of number could be a reference to Bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap but it’s probably just coincidental.

Naturally, the moves attracted attention, with several Twitter comments questioning whether this could be another big buy from Michael Saylor’s Microstrategy investment firm. However, these moves all occurred during a Sunday, which would be odd for a company or traditional financial institution.

Big BTC Moves

Although this recent transfer amounts to a considerable amount of cash, it’s relatively small compared to some previous big moves. Last year in June, just after Bitcoin’s 3rd halvening, a whale moved 132,255 BTC in three separate transfers, amounting to US$1.3 billion at the time.

In the number of actual coins moved, even that amount remains comparatively small. Way back in 2011, a single transaction was completed involving 550,000 BTC, worth a whopping US$30.8 billion today but a meager US$1.3 million at the time.

Bitcoin Continues to Push Higher

Large moves such as these indicate big players entering the market and placing their coins in longterm storage with the expectation of further growth. If an individual or company with that much money has such strong faith in Bitcoin then one can only assume a fair amount of research has gone into their decision.

Just this year alone, both Bitcoin’s individual market cap and the wider cryptocurrency market cap have almost doubled in value. Bitcoin recently crossed the significant $1 trillion mark, climbing from US$530 million on December 31st, 2020.

The price of one BTC hit a new all-time high of above US$58,600 yesterday before suffering a mild rejection that has taken it back down to US$56,000. However, the price remains above the upward trend line and has already begun to make a decent recovery.