Crypto Wallet With 118,300 Bitcoins Worth IDR 47 Trillion Starts Moving, Who Owns It?

Whale Bitcoin is starting to move. (Photo; Doc. Play2earn)

JAKARTA - In a short period of 98 days, a mysterious bitcoin wallet has jumped to third on the list of largest wallets. The identity of this wallet, with the address "bc1ql," has become the center of attention.

On August 22, 2023, the wallet houses about 118,300.20 BTC, with a total value of about US$3.07 billion (Rp47 trillion) based on the current exchange rate. Interestingly, the wallet's original identity has been hidden behind the mystery layer for years, even changing its address several times.

Earlier, in November 2021, the address "1P5ZE" was already in third place on the list of the largest BTC wallets. However, with the various changes that have occurred, this wallet is linked to a lot of speculation. One of the speculations that emerged was that this wallet might be owned by Microstrategy.

However, after the balance in the "1P5ZE" address decreased to zero, the third largest position was seized by another wallet with the address "1LQoW" in 2022. With more than 14,000 bitcoins in it in December 2022, this wallet has a transaction link with the "1P5ZE" wallet and another address called "1FzWL." Deep analysis of clusters, heuristics, and traces of transactions suggest a possible change in ownership from "1P5ZE" to "1LQoW."

Based on a Bitcoin.com News report, we got information from sources that have access to blockchain analysis, such as Chainalysis and Ciphertrace. This source reveals that most likely both addresses are "1P5ZE" and "1FzWL," owned by crypto exchange platform Gemini.

More interestingly, the latest address that appears, "bc1ql," has a direct connection with the "1LQoW" bitcoin address, indicating that this enigmatic wallet may remain under the same holdings.

A well-known cryptocurrency journalist, Colin 'Wu Blockchain,' gave his views on this mystery. According to him, Gemini is the owner of this new address.

"In the last three months, Gemini has transferred bitcoin to a new address bc1q...59v2," he said. "In total, they have about 118,000 bitcoins, equivalent to 3.08 billion US dollars (Rp. This makes it the third largest bitcoin holder. While the first and second largest bitcoin addresses are owned by Binance Cold Wallet and Bitfinex Cold Wallet," he added.

Speculation about who owns the bitcoin is still rolling and doesn't stop there. Some argue that Blackrock may be preparing funding for trading products on the exchange (ETF). There is also assessing that the address is under the Jump Trading Custody which is said to belong to Robinhood.

On May 24, 2023, blockchain analyst "Ergo BTC" of oxt.me questioned whether "Jump [is] handing over keys to Robinhood." Although there are various theories, it is likely that Blackrock is the real owner of the wallet. The most plausible scenario is that this wallet has something to do with Gemini or Robinhood, and has a strong connection with previous third-largest wallets, namely "1LQoW" and "1P5ZE."

The crypto wallet activity, which contains 118,000 Bitcoins worth IDR 47 trillion, continues to invite speculation and observations from various parties. Until now, it is not known exactly who the real owner of this wallet is and what its ultimate goal is. The identity of the BTC owner is still a big question in the crypto community.