Bitcoin Whale That Survived March 2020 Crash Moves $378 Million in BTC

A Bitcoin whale that received its holdings shortly before the March 2020 COVID-19 market crash and held onto them through the downturn has now transferred hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of BTC.

The Bitcoin (BTC) holder moved approximately $377.6 million in coins, according to blockchain records.

On Monday, the wallet address 18VmXvkF4cgLi35RtMiHHDpvMjUCyVpQ9x transferred around 4,582 BTC to five separate addresses, data from Arkham and mempool.space shows. Both platforms provide public records of Bitcoin transactions.

Four recipient wallets received exactly 1,000 BTC each, while the fifth received approximately 582 BTC. At the time of writing, none of the five addresses had transferred any of the newly received coins.

Blockchain records indicate that the Bitcoin originally arrived in the wallet on March 3, 2020, from the address 17VX1BEjYVyBMi2vw6nXDrpwMvCSweHZot. Nine days later, panic surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak triggered a sharp market selloff, sending Bitcoin down more than 40% to below $4,000. The cryptocurrency has not returned to that price level since.

When the coins reached the wallet in March 2020, they were worth approximately $40.8 million. By the time of Monday’s transfer, their value had increased roughly ninefold.

The wallet remained inactive for more than four years after receiving the funds. Its first outgoing transaction occurred in August 2024, when it sent a small amount of 0.009 BTC to bc1qmpjs55x326wvnvtwvkwfqqzzlyljk7ffmdw32g. The remaining Bitcoin was sent back to the original wallet.

Blockchain analysts have repeatedly highlighted potential connections between movements from long-dormant Bitcoin wallets and periods of market volatility. Data and analysis from CryptoQuant suggest that sudden increases in indicators such as Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) and older Spent Output Age Bands can precede price corrections or periods of heightened volatility.

Large transfers from wallets holding Bitcoin for years may raise concerns that their owners are preparing to sell. However, such movements can also reflect routine security practices, including transfers between addresses controlled by the same owner. The reason behind the latest transaction has not been established.

More recently, wallets associated with the U.S. government transferred at least $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. It remains uncertain whether those transactions indicated plans to sell the assets or simply involved moving funds between government-controlled addresses.