Five hundred bitcoins that had not moved once in 12 years were transferred in a single transaction. The move came as a security incident involving Coldcard hardware wallets spread, and the market is leaning toward a possible change in custody arrangements rather than large-scale selling.

Bitcoin Magazine reported on Monday that all 500 BTC held in a bitcoin address that had been dormant for 12 years were transferred to a new address. At current prices, the holdings are worth about $31.8 million.

Blockchain data showed the address moved its entire balance in a single transaction. The transaction fee was just 191 satoshis, or about $0.12. The address had seen no fund movements for 12 years and had effectively been classified as a dormant wallet.

On-chain analysis account Lookonchain first spotted the transaction. Market participants are focusing on the timing, which coincides with the recent string of security incidents involving Coldcard hardware wallets. Some have suggested a long-term holder may have moved assets to a safer storage environment.

A security issue surrounding Coldcard wallets sits in the background. Hackers were recently reported to have exploited software vulnerabilities in Coldcard products to steal users' bitcoins, and losses initially estimated at tens of millions of dollars have continued to grow.

Galaxy Research said on Aug. 3 it was investigating a fourth wave of attacks and that the scale of the leak could reach about $130 million so far. Manufacturer Coinkite also acknowledged that all of its Coldcard models are currently vulnerable after additional damage was confirmed.

Security experts see the incident as a potential trigger to reassess hardware wallet storage practices more broadly, rather than as a problem limited to one product. Some engineers warned that bitcoin addresses linked to Coldcard could not be ruled out as potential targets of further attacks.

Bitcoins that do not move for long periods are often assumed to be lost assets. That is because there are many cases in which private keys are lost or access is lost and there are no transactions for years. In rare cases, large holders also move coins stored for long periods to new addresses to strengthen security or reallocate assets.

That is why the market is putting more weight on the possibility that the 500 BTC move was a transfer for storage purposes rather than an immediate sell signal. With no confirmation that the funds were deposited to an exchange, it is difficult at this point to conclude the move led to market selling.

After the recent Coldcard security incident, bitcoin holders have increasingly moved assets to what they see as safer environments. The market is expected to watch the scale of additional hacking losses and how quickly long-term holders change their existing storage methods.