Decade-old wallets move 793 BTC as Bitcoin tops $79,000

Between May 1 and May 3, 2026, onchain data shows 793.36 BTC moved in 62 outputs from wallets that had been inactive for years. The activity totaled roughly $62.5 million at current prices and occurred while bitcoin traded above $79,000.

Of the 62 outputs spent, 56 originated from coins created in late 2016, accounting for about 600 BTC. Most of those 2016-era outputs moved on May 2 and May 3. Individual transactions in that cohort ranged from 0.01 BTC to more than 26 BTC; two larger single spends were 26.28 BTC and 24.32 BTC.

Earlier-era coins also cleared. On May 1, two outputs from 2011 moved: one output of 110 BTC acquired June 13, 2011, and a separate output of 20.02 BTC linked to July 6, 2011, totaling 130.02 BTC. A 2012 output of 11.36 BTC (acquired Sept. 28, 2012) was spent on May 1. A 2013 output dated Sept. 11, 2013, contributed 11.77 BTC on May 3. Two 2014 outputs, from Aug. 16, 2014 (10.07 BTC) and March 20, 2014 (30.41 BTC), combined for about 40.48 BTC.

The timing of the spending was concentrated on May 3: four outputs cleared on May 1, eight on May 2, and 50 on May 3. The spike on May 3 coincided with bitcoin trading above $79,000 as of 7 p.m. ET that day.

Transaction analysis shows many 2016-era addresses were moved from legacy formats into Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH) addresses, a SegWit-compatible format. The 110 BTC output from 2011 was also migrated into an unidentified P2WPKH destination. Onchain records do not indicate whether the coins were sold, prepared for sale, or only reorganized into newer address formats.

Onchain tracking records each spend as the clearing of a prior output, showing when and where coins were previously received and when they later moved. The blockchain data does not disclose the identity of owners or any subsequent off-chain actions.