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Dormant Bitcoin Whale With $442M Awakens for First Time in 14 Years Amid Quantum Fears
14-year-old wallet moves $16.6M in BTC as analyst weigh security concerns and shifting on-chain behavior.
Updated Oct 24, 2025, 2:34 p.m. Published Oct 24, 2025, 9:10 a.m.
What to know:
- A miner wallet holding 4,000 BTC ($442 million ) moved 150 BTC ($16.6 million) after 14 years of inactivity.
- The reawakening aligns with a broader trend of early “OG” holders moving or selling bitcoin.
- Bitcoin OG, Nicholas Gregory warns that early bitcoin addresses may be vulnerable to future quantum attacks, prompting old holders to transfer coins to safer, unexposed addresses.
Data from Lookonchain shows an early bitcoin miner wallet holding 4,000 BTC (around $442 million) has become active for the first time in 14 years.
The wallet, identified as 18eY9o, transferred 150 BTC (roughly $16.6 million) after years of dormancy.
These coins were originally mined in 2009 and consolidated into the wallet in 2011. The movement may signal a rotation, potential selling, or simply a testing activity.
A major narrative this year has centered on sell pressure from early “OG” holders, who have started moving or selling their bitcoin after it reached the symbolic $100,000 milestone.
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Onchain data shows significant realized profits, suggesting old holders are taking advantage of high prices. Earlier in the year, about 80,000 BTC linked to an early whale, inactive since 2011, sold the entire stash, using Galaxy Digital as the broker.
Some analysts also point to rising concerns over quantum computing and its potential threat to early bitcoin addresses, which could explain the movement of older coins.
Bitcoin OG and Fragrant Board Director Nicholas Gregory told CoinDesk about the potential threat of quantum attacks.
"It's true that OG holders have been selling; however, coins from this era (2011) may be vulnerable to potential quantum attacks if their public keys have been exposed (as is the case with early P2PK addresses or reused P2PKH addresses)," he Gregory said.
"This could be a preemptive move to transfer coins to new, unexposed addresses that would be better sheltered from such quantum hacks".
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
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