Bitcoin whale that moved past the March 2020 crash shifts $378 million

Bitcoin whale that received coins days before the COVID crash and held them moved millions of people across the chain.

Bitcoin's $82,292.69 Bitcoin whale, which received and passed its coins a few days before the Covid crash in March 2020, moved away at $377.6 million.

Wallet 18VmXvkF4cgLi35RtMiHHDpvMjUCyVpQ9x sent approximately 4,582 bitcoins to five addresses on Monday, according to blockchain data from Arkham and mempool.space, two public explorers that show every Bitcoin transaction.

Four addresses received exactly 1000 bitcoins each. The fifth received about 582 bitcoins. As of this writing, none of these five coins have been moved.

The same records show that the coins were imported into that wallet on March 3, 2020 from the address 17VX1BEjYVyBMi2vw6nXDrpwMvCSweHZot. Nine days later, the covid-19 panic hit the markets and Bitcoin fell more than 40% to below $4,000. The market has not revised this price since then.

The value of these coins at the time of arrival was about 40.8 million dollars. By yesterday's transfer, their value had increased almost ninefold.

This wallet didn't send anything for over four years after receiving them. Its first outgoing transaction took place in August 2024. This was a small payment of 0.009 bitcoins to bc1qmpjs55x326wvnvtwvkwfqqzzlyljk7ffmdw32g and the rest of the bitcoins were returned to the same wallet.

Several chain analysts have identified the relationship between long-term sleeping whales and market volatility. According to CryptoQuant data and insights, spikes in metrics like Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) and older exit age bands often serve as key indicators of price correction or high volatility.

This is because large transfers from old wallets are often interpreted as a sign that the owner may be preparing to sell. But they can also reflect common security measures, such as moving coins between addresses controlled by the same owner. The purpose of the latest transfer remains unclear.

Addresses linked to the US government recently transferred at least $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. It is not yet clear whether these transfers were intended for sale or were internal movements between government-controlled wallets.

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