2018 Bitcoin whale moves 2,931 BTC — sale unclear

A Bitcoin holder moved 2,931 BTC, about $188 million at the time, in two transactions on July 12, according to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence. The coins were first sent from an address beginning with “356my” to a SegWit address starting with “bc1qnzk.” The originating address received the 2,931 BTC in October 2018 when Bitcoin traded near $6,500. At the time of the July transfers Bitcoin was trading around $64,000.

About nine hours after the first transfer, the receiving address “bc1qnzk” forwarded the entire balance to a second SegWit address, “bc1qyen.” As of press time the second address still holds the full 2,931 BTC and shows no outgoing transactions.

Arkham Intelligence has not linked either destination address to an exchange, custodian, broker or other identified entity. Each of the two large transactions forwarded nearly the entire balance to a single address rather than splitting the holdings across multiple destinations.

On-chain records do not reveal the holder’s identity, motive, or whether the same party controls the keys for the new addresses. Unlabeled addresses can correspond to newly created exchange deposit wallets, custody accounts, over-the-counter desks or private wallets; such links become visible on-chain only when additional transactions create identifiable patterns.

A future transaction that moves the coins to an address already associated with an exchange, broker, lending platform or other service would create a visible label in on-chain tracking systems if the destination has been previously identified. Until such activity appears, the available records show a long-held Bitcoin position passing through two unidentified SegWit addresses and remaining intact at its latest destination.