Bitcoin whale that sat through the March 2020 crash moves $378 million
A bitcoin whale that received coins days before the Covid crash and sat through it has moved millions on-chain.
A bitcoin BTC$82,292.69 whale that received its coins days before the Covid crash of March 2020 and sat through it has moved $377.6 million worth of them.
The wallet, 18VmXvkF4cgLi35RtMiHHDpvMjUCyVpQ9x, sent roughly 4,582 BTC to five addresses on Monday, according to blockchain data from Arkham and mempool.space, two public explorers that show every bitcoin transaction.
Four of the addresses got exactly 1,000 BTC each. The fifth got about 582 BTC. As of this writing, none of the five has moved the coins.
The coins arrived in that wallet on March 3, 2020, from the address 17VX1BEjYVyBMi2vw6nXDrpwMvCSweHZot, the same records show. Nine days later, Covid-19 panic hit markets and bitcoin plunged more than 40% to under $4,000. The market has not revisited that price since.
The coins were worth about $40.8 million when they arrived. By yesterday’s transfer, their value had risen roughly ninefold.
The wallet sent nothing out for more than four years after receiving them. Its first outgoing transaction came in August 2024. That was a small payment of 0.009 BTC to bc1qmpjs55x326wvnvtwvkwfqqzzlyljk7ffmdw32g, with the rest of the bitcoin returned to the same wallet.
Several onchain analysts have flagged a relation between long-dormant whales moving coins and market volatility. According to data and insights from CryptoQuant, sudden surges in metrics like Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) and older Spent Output Age Bands frequently serve as leading indicators of a price correction or high volatility.
That’s because large transfers from long-held wallets are often interpreted as a sign that the owner may be preparing to sell. But they can also reflect routine security measures, such as moving coins between addresses controlled by the same owner. The purpose of the latest transfer remains unclear.
Recently, addresses linked to the US government moved bitcoin worth at least $1.5 billion. It remains unclear whether those transfers were intended for sale or were internal movements between government-controlled wallets.
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Asanat Analysis — Why it matters
Long-term holder movement after 6+ years of dormancy signals potential conviction shift. This whale accumulated near the March 2020 bottom ($3,800) and weathered two full bull-bear cycles without moving coins—a rare behavioral pattern suggesting either conviction in multi-year thesis or accumulation discipline. On-chain movement of this magnitude doesn't necessarily indicate selling pressure; whales often consolidate holdings across wallets or move to custody solutions without changing their market stance.
The timing matters contextually: October 2026 sits in an ambiguous market regime with regulatory clarity improving but macro headwinds persisting. Historical precedent shows whale repositioning often precedes volatility regardless of directional intent. This move joins a growing dataset of long-term holder behavior—a key on-chain metric analysts monitor to distinguish patient capital rotations from panic liquidations. The $378M threshold suggests institutional-scale holdings rather than retail speculation.