A long-dormant Bitcoin whale that was last active in 2010 has reemerged after a 14-year hiatus, contributing to a recent slump in the market after selling more than $67 million worth of the flagship cryptocurrency on Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase, contributing to a market crash.
The price of Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of over $69,000 on Tuesday, but quickly lost ground as selling pressure intensified right after. Data from crypto analytics service Spot On Chain revealed that a significant portion of this selling pressure originated from a wallet active close to the “Satoshi era” – the early years of Bitcoin’s existence in which its anonymous creator was still active.
The whale, according to Spot O Chain, mined 1,000 BTC back in 2010, when the price of the cryptocurrency was below $0.28, and remained inactive for over a decade. They have now likely made over $67 million in profit from the sale of their assets.
The whale’s Bitcoin movement into Coinbase came aas the flagship cryptocurrency had just hit its previous all-time high near $69,000 and proceded to crash back down to below $60,000 before it quickly started recovering.
Bitcoin is at the time of writing trading at $67,000 per coin after moving up more than 4.8% over the last 24-hour period as it recovers from the crash at a time in which large BTC holders are defying historical trends by accumulating the flagship cryptocurrency even with a price to close to an all-time high.
Some of the market’s frenzy over the last few weeks may be attributed to recently launched Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. These investment vehicles, which debuted back on January 11, saw inflows of $7.9 billion so far.
As reported, Deribit’s Bitcoin Volatility Index (DVOL), a measure of the 30-day implied volatility of Bitcoin options, has surged to a 16-month high. The index has risen from an annualized 41% to 76% in just one month, reaching its highest level since November 2022 in what appears to be good news for BTC holders looking to generate income from the options market.
Deribit’s overall trading activity has surged alongside Bitcoin’s 58% increase this year. The total notional open interest across crypto futures and options on Deribit has reached a new peak of $32 billion, with the options market contributing almost $30 billion to this figure.
Featured image via Unsplash.
