Recently, several dormant Bitcoin addresses seem to be have awaken from their slumber. The post Bitcoin’s Dormant Addresses Awaken, Mt.Gox-Linked Wallets Move Millions appeared first on Tokenist.
Bitcoin’s novelty and uncertainty have engendered much carelessness among pioneering BTC holders. This caused millions of bitcoins to be lost and addresses to become dormant. But recently, a trend of cold addresses warming up has been observed on the Bitcoin blockchain.
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Bitcoin Dormant Addresses Waking Up
Nothing can topple Bitcoin’s price more than intense selling pressure. And that pressure is typically caused by Bitcoin holders who acquired BTC under $1,000 per coin, who now are considered whales. This is why it is essential to understand the scope of this potential danger, as all technical analysis falls flat if just one ancient whale decides to move.
Fortunately, having a public blockchain makes that easier. Up until September 2017, when the price of BTC was $4.9k, data shows nearly 5 million dormant BTC, as a cumulative sum. Such a drastic price difference would then provide plenty of incentive to awaken.
Awakening of decade-old addresses is expected, given the Mt.Gox BTC repayment release. Even if old Bitcoin whales are not directly tied to the bankrupt exchange, they may be spurred on by the expected sell pressure.
Mt. Gox-Associated Sell Pressure
“These coins are sourced from the Gox saga, and possibly controlled by Jeb McCaleb. Two txs for 5K BTC were sent to Kraken and Coinbase.”
Forbes estimates McCaleb’s net worth at $2.4 billion. Overall, Mt.Gox trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, has held 142,000 BTC for auction to repay the exchange’s creditors.
Will BTC Buying Wave Compensate the Selling Wave?
Specifically due to the downfall of two crypto-facing banks, Silvergate and Signature. This caused external liquidity on exchanges, as evidenced by the lowest market depth in March since the collapse of Terra (LUNA).
Despite being perceived as an on-risk asset, Bitcoin is primarily a long-term investment against currency debasement. Even TradFi admits as much. Most recently, London-based Standard Chartered called the next Bitcoin price at $100k by the end of 2024.
“While sources of uncertainty remain, we think the pathway to the USD 100,000 level is becoming clearer,”
Geoff Kendrick, head of Standard Chartered’s digital assets division
Do you think sufficient demand will be supplied if old whales give to temptation? Let us know in the comments below.