The Final Point May Have Been Reached in the Incident Involving the Whale Carrying 8 Billion Dollars Worth of Bitcoin: Here is the Possible Reason for the Transaction

The Crypto currency analysis platform Arkham Intelligence stated that behind the movement that occurred yesterday, facilitating the transfer of 80,000 Bitcoins worth approximately 8 billion dollars, there could be an address format update rather than a sell.

According to Arkham’s analysis, the mentioned Bitcoin whale is transferring its assets from the traditional “1-” prefixed old address format to the more modern and secure “bc1q-” prefixed Bech32 address format. This situation is believed to offer increased security, lower transaction fees, and a long-term storage purpose for Bitcoin users.

Analysts explained the situation as follows:

“Yesterday’s $8 billion transfers were likely related to address format upgrades. The transition from bc1q- addresses to addresses is on the table. There are no signs that the whale has sold.”

The address formats on the Bitcoin network have changed over time:

• Addresses starting with “1-” (P2PKH): The first address format of Bitcoin. Although shorter and more commonly used, it does not support SegWit (SegreGated Witness), which leads to higher transaction fees.
• Addresses starting with “3-” (P2SH): Provides multi-signature (multisig) and SegWit compatibility but still does not offer full efficiency.
• Addresses starting with “bc1q-” (Bech32 format): The latest format that fully supports SegWit features. It offers advantages such as lower transaction fees, faster transaction processing, and greater resilience against typographical errors.