Dormant bitcoin worth $2 billion moves just days after spot bitcoin ETFs start trading, Arkham says

Thousands of bitcoin tokens — which have only moved twice in the last 11 years — appear to have woken up.

The crypto tracker Arkham Intelligence spotted the change, stating that 49 addresses consolidated into five that now hold a cumulative 49,858 BTC -1.69% (around $2.12 billion). The last two times the bitcoin moved was in 2019 and 2013. 

"$2 billion of dormant Bitcoin moved just before US market open today, across several linked addresses," Arkham wrote on the social media platform X . "Historically these Bitcoins have all moved at the same times and dates."

The movement of the dormant bitcoin comes nearly a week after the approval of 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds on Jan. 10, which began trading on stock exchanges such as Cboe, NYSE and Nasdaq a day later. 

Bitcoin was trading at around $42,600, down around 0.9%, at 10:30 a.m. ET on Jan. 17, according to The Block's Price Page for bitcoin. 

Price and 24-hour movement for bitcoin. Image: The Block Price Pages