Bitcoin Whale Transfers Valued at $1 Billion After 14 Years

World’s first cryptocurrency seen significant liquidation by long-term holders as institutional interest grows

A Bitcoin whale identified by wallet address “12tLs” liquidated 10,000 BTC worth over $1 billion after holding the assets for 14 years. This surprising transfer, worth approximately $1.05 billion at current prices, occurred on Thursday.

Data from blockchain analytics provider Lookonchain reveals that the wallet received the 10,000 BTC coins on April 3, 2011, when Bitcoin was trading around $0.78 per coin—a valuation that would have represented just $1,600 at current prices.

According to BitinfoCharts data, the transfer marked the awakening of three dormant wallet addresses. Immediately following the first whale’s sale, two other addresses labeled “bc1qm” and “1GcCK” also liquidated 10,000 BTC each after being inactive for 14 years.

TradingView data analysis shows these whales realized an unprecedented 13 million percent return on their long-term investment—a profit of approximately $130 billion from their initial holdings.

Cryptocurrency analysts monitor whale activity as an important indicator for institutional demand patterns and short-term price momentum. The recent liquidation events followed a trend of early adopters cashing out Bitcoin holdings.

Two weeks ago, an investor holding since 2013 generated a nearly $30 million profit representing a 496-fold return on a $60,000 initial investment.

Public Companies Continue Accumulating Bitcoin

Concurrent with the liquidation events, public companies and institutions showed continued interest in the cryptocurrency.

BitcoinTreasuries.NET data shows the number of companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets has increased significantly from 124 to 255 in just one month. The total amount held by institutions and public companies now stands at 3.47 million BTC, representing approximately 3.97% of the total supply.

Market sentiment alignment with the traditional financial sector was evidenced by recent performance of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices which reached new all-time highs on Thursday.

“Bitcoin is closely tracking equity performance and stands poised to follow equities to new highs,” noted Ruslan Lienkha, chief of markets at crypto fintech firm YouHodler.

“A decisive push above its current consolidation range could see BTC retesting and surpassing its previous all-time high in the near term.”

Analysts caution, however, that Bitcoin’s price may remain capped below $112,000 in the absence of new market buyers and retail interest.

The whale activity comes amid numerous analytical pieces suggesting Bitcoin’s next major resistance level could be approximately $330,000 with technical indicators suggesting a 90% probability of reaching this level.