Awakened after sleeping for 12 years! The "Ancient Giant Whale" transferred 500 Bitcoins, which cost only $457k back then.

Imagine an investment that has been dormant for over ten years, now worth nearly 90 times its original value. On-chain data shows that a Bitcoin whale that had been sleeping for 12 years has recently awakened quietly, transferring out Bitcoin worth up to $40.6 million, drawing significant market attention.
According to data tracked by Arkham, around 3 a.m. today (the 11th), the whale address (1KAA8…d882j) transferred all 500 Bitcoins to a new wallet address (bc1qm…hjrxy). Surprisingly, there had been no transfer records from this address since the Bitcoins were deposited on November 27, 2013, until today when it suddenly moved.
It is worth noting that, back then, these 500 Bitcoins were worth only about $457k, but now they have skyrocketed to over $40 million, representing an approximately 89-fold increase in value over the past 12 years.
Although the exact motivation behind this “mysterious whale” transferring funds remains unknown, in the cryptocurrency market, such early holders moving large amounts of assets to new wallets or exchanges are often a sign of preparing for a “profit-taking” exit.
In fact, this kind of early investor awakening is not a rare occurrence recently. Just last month, an early investor who participated in Ethereum’s initial coin offering (ICO) also transferred Ether that had not been moved since July 2015 to a new wallet. This asset is now valued at $23 million, sparking lively discussion in the community.
The timing of these whale awakenings coincides with a recent surge in Bitcoin’s price. Over the past month, Bitcoin has soared from around $66k to the $80k–$82k range.