A sudden exchange of 616 Bitcoins has created ripples in the cryptocurrency world. The exchange happened in an account that has been dormant for almost nine years. So why is the exchange significant? The Bitcoin stash worth $29.4 million (Around Rs 216 crore) has grown 359284 percent.

The owner of the wallet had deposited 616.2004 Bitcoins on December 10, 2012. Back then, Bitcoins were worth $13.30, making the entire transaction worth roughly $8,195. Since then, the value of Bitcoin has soared exponentially and is currently valued at $47,811 as of September 20. This means, the value of the 616 Bitcoins has grown about 359284 percent by staying invested for so many years.

Also read: Cryptocurrency prices on September 20: Bitcoin down 4%; altcoins slide

On September 19, the owner of the Bitcoin stash emptied his account of all 616 coins and transferred them to a different account on September 20 (around 11.30 am IST), blockchain explorer Blockchain.com has reported.

Apart from the stash, the owner also earned 47 cents through 21 intermittent transactions of negligible quantities in the last 12 years.

Early investors, who bought the largest cryptocurrency a decade ago in small amounts and held on to the chip, have turned into Bitcoin whales with prices rising every day.

In the beginning of this year, another Bitcoin wallet came alive after being dormant since June 2010. The wallet had $5 million worth of coins. Another Bitcoin whale account holding (or rather HODLing) some 900 coins, and dormant since 2012, had become active in June 2021.

Also read: The future of Bitcoin: From Ray Dalio to Cathie Wood, top investment pandits weigh in

Similarly, in 2020, a wallet which had mined Bitcoin in February 2009, cashed out approximately $500,000. The transaction was soon followed by unfounded speculation that the Bitcoins were linked to Satoshi Nakomoto, the enigmatic creator of the cryptocurrency.

In August, on-chain market intelligence company Glassnode said long-term Bitcoin holders have 34 percent of the current amount of supply of the digital coins. These investors have a total of 7,131,084 Bitcoins held in these wallets.

Also read: How young Indians are achieving financial freedom by investing in crypto assets, building crypto solutions

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)