Ethereum ICO Contributor Makes First Transaction of 630 Ether
Early Crypto Investors Revisit Their Wallets: A Look at the Active Dormant Wallets Trend in 2025
In a fascinating development in the cryptocurrency market, there has been a notable trend of dormant wallets from early periods, including Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), becoming active again after years or even over a decade of inactivity. This phenomenon has been particularly prevalent in 2025.
One such example is a wallet that received 1,940 ETH in July 2015, then valued at just $601. After nearly four years of dormancy, this wallet made its first outgoing transaction on December 27, 2024, transferring 631.1 ETH, approximately $2.08 million at the time of writing, to Coinbase. The identity of the wallet owner remains unknown.
This isn't an isolated incident. In late July, another Ethereum ICO participant moved 2000 ETH for the first time in nine years, distributing them across two new wallets. The user still holds 1309 ETH, worth approximately $4.3 million.
The Bitcoin market has also seen similar activity. In March, a Bitcoin wallet dormant for nearly 12 years moved all 500 BTC it held, worth nearly $35 million. These movements have had a significant impact on market sentiment and have triggered price volatility.
For instance, a Satoshi-era Bitcoin wallet, dormant for 14+ years, started moving large amounts of BTC recently. One whale moved 9,000 BTC after 14 years, and others have transferred tens of thousands of BTC in 2025. These movements have caused increased trading volumes, market volatility, and reassessment of short-term price trends, especially for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Similar whale activities have been observed in other altcoins like XRP, where large holders moved hundreds of millions of tokens after periods of inactivity, often preceding short-term price corrections.
This trend of active dormant wallets reflects early investors either liquidating gains or reallocating assets after long holding periods. As the cryptocurrency market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how this trend unfolds in the coming months and years.
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- The Bitcoin market, much like Ethereum, has seen early investors revisiting their wallets, with one whale moving 9,000 BTC after 14 years of dormancy, stirring increased trading volumes, market volatility, and reassessment of short-term price trends.
- In the realm of finance and technology, the cryptocurrency market in 2025 has been marked by the surge of active dormant wallets, not only in Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also in altcoins like XRP, indicating early investors reallocating assets or liquidating gains after extended holding periods.
