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Bitcoin whales inactive for more than a decade have started to wake up as the U.S. Federal Reserve’s September 17 rate cut decision draws close.
A Satoshi-era whale woke up on Wednesday and transferred 1,000 BTC worth to four new wallets, according to on-chain analytics platform Arkham.
In 2013, this whale received 1,000 BTC in four chunks, with the price of Bitcoin hovering around $843. At Bitcoin’s current price of $117,000, the same stack is now worth a staggering $117 million.
More dormant wallets have started waking up as Bitcoin holds above the psychological level of $100,000.
On September 14, a different Bitcoin whale deposited 1,176 BTC to Hyperliquid across two transfers, potentially signaling an intention to sell. This wallet previously converted $4 billion worth of Bitcoin to Ethereum following a Hyperliquid deposit.
Last Thursday also saw a similar activity when a 13-year dormant whale moved a portion of its $50 million holdings to new wallets, according to a previous Decrypt report.
Bitcoin Whale Awakens After Nearly 13 Years—Why Now?
While old whales may be moving their holdings to book profits, last week’s ETF flows suggest that institutional demand for Bitcoin remains high. Bitwise’s Monday report underscores this demand by showing that the accumulation from exchange-traded funds far exceeds the new supply.
The resurgence of Bitcoin ETF flows “highlights a more cautious mood,” Illia Otychenko, lead analyst at CEX.IO, told Decrypt last week. “Investors are now favoring Bitcoin as the safer bet ahead of the Fed decision.”
CME’s FedWatch tool shows a 100% possibility of a rate cut, with the odds of a 25 basis point rate cut hovering around 94%. On prediction market Myriad, launched by Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN, users place a 91.8% chance on a 25bps rate cut and a 4.7% chance on a 50bps decrease.
With the majority of investors expecting a quarter-point rate cut, all eyes are now on the Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s tone, according to experts in a previous Decrypt report.
