500 BTC whale address wakes after 12.7 years

A dormant Bitcoin wallet identified as 18TExP moved its full 500 BTC balance, worth about $31.3 million, on Monday after 12.7 years of inactivity, as a wider wave of old-coin transfers emerged during the Coldcard security crisis. Whale Alert first flagged the transaction, while Lookonchain said the owner may have shifted the funds to a new wallet because of security concerns. The coins were worth roughly $500,000 when they last moved in 2013. The transfer coincided with a broader rise in the movement of older bitcoin, including about 935 BTC from coins dormant for 10 years or longer on Aug. 3, the highest daily total since March 20, and roughly 6,388 BTC from coins dormant for five to seven years on July 31, according to CryptoQuant data on spent output age bands. The activity followed the July 30 start of the Coldcard hack, which Galaxy researchers said has cost about $130 million in BTC as attackers exploited a flaw dating back to March 2021. Analysts also pointed to increased BTC inflows to exchanges over the weekend as the incident shook confidence in self-custody safety, though movements from old wallets can also reflect estate transfers, exchange consolidations or custodial migrations.