Dormant Bitcoin Whale Moves $141M After 7-Year Silence

On-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant has identified a major transaction from a long-inactive Bitcoin holder. According to community analyst Maartunn, the movement of 2,043 BTC, valued at $140.8 million, caused a massive spike in the ‘Spent Output Age Bands’ metric specifically for the 5 to 7-year cohort. This metric tracks the amount of Bitcoin that addresses, whose coins have been dormant for a set period, are suddenly moving. The spike indicates that coins which had not been transacted for between five and seven years have just broken their dormancy.

Maartunn’s analysis reveals that the whale involved purchased these tokens on February 19, 2019, placing the coins at the higher end of the 5–7 year age band. The entity’s history is notable; it once held a massive 39,000 BTC, originally received from Cumberland, a prominent over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk. The reason for the whale’s re-emergence remains unclear. As Maartunn noted, it could be a reaction to recent bearish price action, prompting even a ‘diamond hand’ to sell, or it could simply be a mundane operational move like changing wallets.

The whale’s activity occurs alongside concerning broader market data highlighted by CryptoQuant author IT Tech. The 30-day capital netflow into Bitcoin—a metric tracking the net new money entering the asset—has plummeted into negative territory. It currently sits at -$2.6 billion, suggesting that selling pressure is outpacing demand from new investors. This is a significant shift that points to contracting market liquidity.

“This behavior is consistent with early bear market conditions: contracting liquidity and narrowing participation,” IT Tech observed. The drying up of new investor capital inflows creates a challenging environment for Bitcoin’s price, as it reduces the buying power needed to absorb sales from existing holders, whether they are retail investors or dormant whales.

The simultaneous occurrence of a large, aged coin movement and negative capital netflow presents a complex picture for market analysts. On one hand, the movement of coins held for nearly seven years could be interpreted as a veteran investor taking profits or repositioning after an extended period of inactivity, potentially signaling a lack of long-term conviction at current prices. On the other hand, without further context, the transaction could be neutral, related to estate planning, custody changes, or portfolio rebalancing.

The definitive impact on Bitcoin’s price remains uncertain. While the whale moved a substantial sum, the $140.8 million transaction is a fraction of the entity’s historical holdings and a small portion of Bitcoin’s daily trading volume. The more macro concern for analysts is the sustained negative capital netflow, which indicates a broader weakening of fresh demand. For now, Bitcoin’s price has responded with sideways movement, continuing to trade around the $68,900 level as the market digests these on-chain developments.