'Old Bitcoin' Worried From Long Sleep, Participating In Enlivening The 2024 Crypto Market

Bitcoin, the world's largest crypto asset by market cap. (Photo; Doc. Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The crypto market started in 2024 with tremendous growth. The world's largest crypto asset, Bitcoin (BTC), reached a record high above $51,000. However, it is not only Bitcoin circulating in the market that is in action. This situation helped build old Bitcoins that were tightly stored in crypto wallets for years.

The Bitcoin is stored at addresses that have never made transactions out for a long time. These addresses have a Bitcoin balance known as Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs), which is the smallest unit of Bitcoin.

According to data from BitInfoCharts, there are thousands of Bitcoin addresses that have untouched UTXOs over the years. Some of them even date back to 2009, 2010, and 2011, when Bitcoin was very new and cheap.

However, along with the increase in Bitcoin prices, there appears to be a tendency that old Bitcoin owners are starting to reactivate their addresses and make out transfers. This can be seen from the increasing number of UTXOs over the age of five spent in recent months.

One interesting example is the address created on January 4, 2014, which has a balance of 106.76 BTC. This address never moved until February 15, 2024, when he sent the entire Bitcoin to another address. At that time, the value of Bitcoin was around 5.5 million US dollars or around Rp. 85.8 billion, even though when it was first obtained it was only about 91,706 US dollars or around Rp. 1.4 billion.

Not only the 2014 address that wakes up from a long sleep, but also its addresses from 2013, 2012, and even 2016. In the last three days, there have been around 452.25 BTC from old addresses moving in the market, with a value of around 23.36 million US dollars or around Rp. 364.5 billion.

What prompted the old Bitcoin owners to move their assets after being silent for so long? There are several possible answers. First, they want to take advantage of the current high Bitcoin price. Second, they want to move their Bitcoins to safer and more modern wallets or platforms. Third, they want to use their Bitcoins to invest or shop in the growing crypto market. Fourth, they want to donate their Bitcoins to social or philanthropic purposes.

Whatever the reason, the old Bitcoin phenomenon that wakes up from a long sleep shows that Bitcoin has an eternal appeal, even for those who have long kept it. It also reflects a broader trend of mobilizing strategic assets by Bitcoin holders to adapt to the optimum market conditions.

As the crypto market continues to develop, the rise of old addresses often provides insight into future trends and investor sentiment in the realm that is always unexpected from the crypto asset economy.