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A series of massive Bitcoin transfers has shaken the cryptocurrency industry, leaving a trail of questions and wild theories.
Last week, several cryptocurrency trackers flagged the transfer of a staggering 80,000 BTC worth $8.6 billion in eight different transactions of 10,000 BTC from a single entity. These transactions are particularly interesting because it is the first time these assets have been moved in over a decade.
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According to cryptocurrency intelligence platform Arkham, these assets were last moved between April 2, 2011 and May 4, 2011. At the time, the asset was trading for less than $1.
“In 8 years of analyzing Bitcoin, I’ve never seen anything like this,” CryptoQuant analyst J.A. Maartun said, commenting on the move.
What’s going on? The answer depends on who you ask.
According to Arkham, the transactions are likely just an address upgrade from the legacy Bitcoin address standard. The platform maintained that there was no indication that the entity was selling the asset despite sitting on an eye-popping 10.8 million percent profit.
On the other hand, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Head of Product Business Operations Conor Grogan has raised a more sinister possibility.
“There is a small possibility that the $8B in BTC that recently woke up were hacked or compromised private keys,” he said.
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Grogan said the wallet owner appeared to initially test their wallet keys with a Bitcoin Cash test transaction before the Bitcoin transfers. He questioned why the entity had not also cleared their Bitcoin Cash wallets.
“Why wouldn’t they also sweep these?” he said. “This is all extreme speculation, but the movements are extremely odd here.”
He highlighted that if it proved to be a hack, it “would be by far the largest heist in human history.”
Meanwhile, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood has speculated whether the transactions could be part of “a government settlement deal,” citing the lack of an extended market reaction.
