Blockchain data firm Arkham Intelligence has revealed that a prominent Bitcoin whale, one of the earliest miners, has sold approximately $9.7 million worth of Bitcoin.
This particular whale began mining shortly after the genesis block—the first block on the Bitcoin blockchain—was created. Despite this significant sale, the whale retains about $72 million in Bitcoin.
The miner reportedly spent two months transferring Bitcoin to the Kraken exchange.
In the early days of Bitcoin in 2009, the cryptocurrency could be mined using personal computers, allowing individuals to generate up to 3,000 BTC per day when mining difficulty was at its lowest.
At that time, miners received a block reward of 50 BTC before the first halving event occurred.
As the network expanded in 2010, more miners joined, significantly increasing the mining difficulty and making it harder to mine Bitcoin with standard personal computers.
Addresses associated with ancient whales dating back to 2009 are rare, leading to speculation about whether Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s enigmatic creator, may be involved in this recent activity.
A string of red flags is raising the possibility that the crypto market may be sliding into another cold stretch.
Bitcoin appears to be entering a more mature phase, with volatility reaching record lows and institutional interest on the rise.
Bitcoin has seen a volatile week, climbing over 7% and trading near $85,750 as of April 15.
Bitcoin may be gearing up for another rally, and one key macro trend could be the driving force: a surge in global liquidity.