Cryptocurrency whales, unknown holders of large amounts of tokens, have caught the attention of Crypto Twitter lately, as wallets with long-standing inactivity suddenly showed signs of movement in both Bitcoin and Ether. Wallets that were inactive for more than 10 years have moved hundreds of tokens over the weekend, sparking speculations about possible identities and the true intentions behind such moves.

For instance, one Bitcoin wallet, which did not move any coins since 2012, moved a total of 400 BTC ($11 million) over the weekend. It received 900 BTC between 2012 and 2013, during a period when the price of Bitcoin fluctuated between $12 and $195. This means this whale has seen returns of nearly 40,000%.

The activity is not exclusive to Bitcoin holders, with Ether whales also making moves. A participant in the Ether initial coin offering (ICO) moved 1 ETH to another wallet after eight years of inactivity. The wallet currently holds 2,356 ETH, which were bought at 31 cents each during the ICO, and have grown to a current value of over $4 million.

The unknown nature of these moves has led to some interesting speculations about the motives behind them. Some believe that Silk Road developers could have regained access to their wallets, while others claim that insiders could be moving tokens ahead of some potential bad news. Others think that an old wallet generator has been cracked and is being used by hackers to access the funds.

Founder of Ethereum services provider MyCrypto Taylor Monahan even flagged what looked to be an intricate “wallet draining operation” of Ether whales and early holders, with thousands of Ether already taken, according to her estimates.

These events highlight the importance of crypto users keeping their wallets secure, but until we get some statements from the whales or some concrete evidence, the truth remains a mystery.



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