A long-dormant Bitcoin wallet has suddenly woken up after eight years of inactivity.

According to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, the whale has moved over $250 million worth of Bitcoin.

A Bitcoin whale, who had been holding a fortune in BTC since 2016, has just woken up a long-dormant wallet.

According to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, the whale has moved over $250 million worth of Bitcoin.

The transactions were executed within the last 16 hours and they show that the value of the coin has appreciated from approximately $3 million in early 2017 to over $250 million today.

Before yesterday’s transfers, the wallet had maintained its Bitcoin (BTC) in a single address for more than eight years.

$250M BITCOIN WHALE WAKES UP AFTER 8 YEARSA Bitcoin Whale that has held BTC since late 2016 has just moved over $250M in BTC last night.His Bitcoin stack went from $3M in early 2017 to over $250M today – and he’s held Bitcoin on one address for over 8 years. pic.twitter.com/RF1aewYVgy

The transactions, visible on Arkham’s monitoring dashboard, show the funds moving between several wallets labeled as “250M BTC Whale” addresses.

Specifically, the transactions took place in two batches about 14-16 hours ago, with each transfer involving approximately 3,000 BTC worth roughly $252 million per transfer.

As the transactions took place over a 12-hour period, the value varied slightly with each transfer.

Whale purchased Bitcoin when it was around $1,000

According to the transaction history, the Bitcoin was originally purchased around 2016, when BTC traded at approximately $1,000 or lower.

The value of the cryptocurrency at the time is no longer easily accessible through standard blockchain explorers, but the transaction activity shows that the funds were purchased in several batches throughout 2015 and 2016.

The earliest transactions, which took place in early 2015, show small amounts of BTC being sent to the main address from a different wallet. These smaller transactions appear to be part of an accumulation strategy.

The transactions were completed in the form of several deposits over a period of about 18 months, ultimately forming the main bulk of the 3,000 BTC holding.

Before these recent movements, the last transactions from these wallets occurred around 8 years ago, as shown by the timestamps in Arkham’s data—the early transactions from 2016 show the accumulation of Bitcoin when the cryptocurrency was less valuable.

The awakening of dormant wallets from Bitcoin’s earlier years has become increasingly rare. These events offer a glimpse into the major wealth creation experienced by early adopters who maintained their holdings through multiple market cycles.

While some long-term holders maintain their Bitcoin positions, industry experts are debating whether Bitcoin’s traditional four-year market cycle will be sustained into the future. Tomas Greif, Chief of Product & Strategy at Braiins, recently questioned the sustainability of these cycles:Is the 4-year bitcoin cycle dead?Early on, halvings had a major supply impact. But as the majority of BTC has been mined, their effect is shrinking. In a couple of halvings, they will have a negligible effect on supply.I once tried to trade the cycle theory and got rekt.… pic.