From Rs. 6 Lakhs to Rs. 216 Crores, Bitcoin Wallet Wakes Up After 9 Years

A Bitcoin wallet that remained dormant and only made transactions of negligible value for 12 years suddenly woke up and transferred 616 tokens, worth $29.40 million (roughly Rs. 216 crores) in today’s value, to a different wallet. When it received those 616 coins on December 10, 2012, each Bitcoin was worth $13.30 (roughly Rs. 978), meaning the total transaction was valued at $8,195 (roughly Rs. 6 lakhs) back then. The phenomenal growth of Bitcoin made this dormant wallet a whale. It also showed long-term investments pay for those who remain patient in the nascent industry, despite its highly volatile nature.

In 2012, Bitcoin was a very new idea and not many knew or trusted it. Gradually, it grew as more people came to know about it and joined the industry. The early investors who took a chance on Bitcoin then have made a killing.

The wallet in question moved the Bitcoins on September 19, according to Blockchain.com. This Bitcoin wallet move after 12 years is a powerful reminder of how an investment grows. The whale account holder has gained 3,58,655 percent over the past nine years.

In July, a group of Bitcoin whale accounts, that were inactive since December 2018, bought thousands of Bitcoin. They bought 28,377 Bitcoins worth $841.85 million (roughly Rs. 62,789 crores) on July 17 and July 18.

A similar event happened in June as well, when a wallet with 900 Bitcoins suddenly woke up after nine years. Its holdings, which were valued at $12,778 (roughly Rs. 9.35 lakhs) in 2012, had increased to nearly $33 million (roughly Rs. 242 crores).

Bitcoin price in India was Rs. 31.51 lakhs (roughly $42,827) Tuesday morning.

A whale is an account that owns a large number of crypto coins and has the power to swing the cryptocurrency market. Every transaction by them is closely watched to understand the market trajectory and they are sometimes under scrutiny for their controversial moves. In 2017, around 1,000 people owned about 40 percent of all Bitcoins.