A Bitcoin (BTC) whale wallet that had not moved for more than 12 years has become active again, drawing market attention. As Bitcoin worth tens of billions of won moved to a new address, the market is split over whether to view it as a simple wallet reshuffle or interpret it as a real sell signal.

On May 11 local time, CoinDesk and CoinPost reported that the on-chain analysis accounts Lookonchain and Whale Alert detected signs that 500 BTC moved from a long-dormant Bitcoin wallet.

Before the transfer, the funds were held at address '1KAA8G' and were then moved in full to a new Bitcoin address. The wallet is known to have bought Bitcoin in November 2013 and shown virtually no movement for more than 12 years.

The 500 BTC moved this time is currently worth about $40.62 million, or about 60 billion won. With Bitcoin priced at about $914 per coin at the time, the initial purchase is estimated at about $457,000, or about 600 million won. The unrealised gain at current value is about $40.17 million, or about 59 billion won, about 88 times the principal.

The market is focusing more on the funds' final destination than on the move itself. That is because when a large, long-dormant Bitcoin wallet suddenly moves, the possibility is raised that it could lead to deposits to exchanges and large-scale selling.

So far, there are no confirmed signs that the new address receiving the funds is linked to a known exchange wallet. That has also raised the possibility the move was for reasons such as tighter security or reorganising addresses. The explanation is that while on-chain data can track the flow of funds, it is difficult to conclude whether an actual sale occurred based only on public information.

Recently, cases of reactivated long-dormant wallets have appeared repeatedly. Since Bitcoin first broke above $100,000 in late 2024, there have been more cases of early investors and miners moving coins they had held for a long period again. Some later led to actual profit-taking.

In July last year, there was also a case in which 8 so-called "Satoshi-era" wallets moved funds for the first time in about 14 years. Each wallet held 10,000 BTC, and the timing, when Bitcoin was trading near an all-time high, heightened market jitters.

The industry sees that the movement of long-dormant holdings itself can affect investor sentiment. That is because if funds of hundreds to thousands of BTC flow into exchanges, the market tends to accept it as a signal of potential selling pressure.

Still, it is unclear whether this 500 BTC move will lead to an actual market shock. So far, there have been no confirmed signs of inflows to exchanges or sales, and the additional transfer route has also not been disclosed.

Bitcoin is trading around $80,700. The market is watching whether the funds later connect to an exchange address and whether additional on-chain moves occur.