A good portion of the bitcoin supply has been lost due to holders dying or forgetting their private keys. These coins will never be recovered and are regarded as lost bitcoins. They play into the scarcity factor that drives the value of bitcoin up. It is estimated that 20% of the digital asset has been lost. These could technically still be recovered but it is unlikely since losing a private key means losing the coins held in the wallet.
Since so much of the asset is lost, the rest remaining in circulation are more valuable than ever, especially given the limited supply of bitcoin. Sometimes, though, some of these wallets with BTC which have been regarded as a lost cause can be reactivated again. It could be the holder finally managed to find their lost private keys or they had simply been holding for that long.
Related Reading |Â Institutional Bitcoin Open Interest Plummets, But Why?
One of these wallets, dormant for eight years with millions in BTC, has just been reactivated and coins have moved out for the first time in a long time.
Whale Wallet Activates
A whale wallet holding 2,207 BTC has now been activated after spending 8.1 years in dormancy. Whale Alert reported the activation after the wallet began moving BTC out.
💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤 A dormant address containing 2,207 #BTC (150,512,129 USD) has just been activated after 8.1 years (worth 294,287 USD in 2013)!https://t.co/a6EPxBbXd5
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) November 10, 2021
The amount contained in the wallet was only worth $294K when the last transaction occurred on the account. Now, 8 years later, the value of the coins held in the wallet has grown so much that it is now worth over $150 million in 2021. One could speculate as to why the wallet has only begun to transact now but there could be a number of factors at play that could lead to such a long dormancy period.
BTC falls to $65K | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
It could be that the owner of the wallet forgot that they had this wallet. It might sound impossible but could very well be the case. A more likely scenario would be that the wallet owner forgot their private key and could not find it for a long time. Maybe they were finally able to access the wallet in 2021.
Another scenario could be that this is a case of diamond hands. There are holders who have held through thick and thin in the bitcoin market over the years and have refused to sell. This holder could be one of them. Whatever the situation, the reality remains that this is now a very rich holder and they may begin to take profits over the next couple of days.
Inflation Announcement Sends Bitcoin Soaring
Inflation figures for the U.S. were recently announced and the figures came out higher than previous figures. Inflation rates for the country currently sit at 6.2%, higher than anticipated. The growing inflation rates have been a concern for investors in the market. Sending them running to cryptocurrencies, which have proven to be an effective inflation hedge.
Related Reading |Â Bitcoin Payments Card Are Coming To Asia Pacific, Courtesy Of Mastercard
The recent announcement though spelled good news for the market. After inflation figures came in, bitcoin had rallied towards a new all-time high. This is indicative of investors putting their money into the digital asset to keep it from being affected by inflation.
BREAKING: Inflation came in at 6.2% and bitcoin immediately ripped to an all-time high.
The market is speaking.
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) November 10, 2021
Bitcoin had rallied above $69K for the first time on Wednesday, setting a new record before the close of the trading day.
Featured image from Bitcoin News, chart from TradingView.com
