Bitcoin Whale Wallet Moves as Cryptocurrency Community Ponders Ownership
Defunct Wallet Mysteriously Resurfaces, Creating a Flurry of Bitcoin Transactions
Uncertainty has marred the Bitcoin community after thousands of Bitcoin associated to a defunct wallet address mysteriously resurfaced in the market. Apparently, the wallet, which was last scrutinized in 2014, is now sending the Bitcoin, albeit in several sub-wallets. Though the source of this activity is unestablished, many speculate that it could be vendor form the infamous Silk Road black market, a Ross Ulbricht adders or a trader from the fallen Mt Gox exchange.
The suspicious activity is thought to have begun on August 27th. Seemingly, the owner of the dormant wallet which contained 100,000 BTC, has devised a script that enables them to transfer several batches of 100 BTC, which are later moved into larger wallets accommodating 99 BTC each. Four years ago, speculation arose that the same parent address was linked to the infamous collapse of the Mt. Gox digital currency trading platform. However, the allegations did not materialize into anything solid. It seems that the funds belong to a former MT Gox trader, as the wallet, bearing the 1933 address, received over 40,000 BTC a year after the inauguration of the Mt. Gox exchange. Moreover, in 213, a BitcoinTalk member linked the 1933 wallet to Ross Ulbricht from the Sill Road black market, though this remains to be yet another conjecture.
Over time, the Bitcoin in the 1933 wallet has been systemically divided into smaller chunks, starting from 60,000 to 30,000 o 15,000, and so on, in that succession. Also, as mentioned earlier the 100 BTC wallets are being shuffled to form larger 999 BTC wallets. Given the developments that have taken place on the Bitcoin network since 2014, including last year’s BCH hard fork, it is estimated that the wallet’s owner has a whopping $1 billion worth of Bitcoin.
The controversial sending of Bitcoin mentioned above is not the only contentious issue that the 1933 dares is associated with. In the contested agreement between Craig Wright and Dave Kleiman in 2013, this address was also mentioned. Questions have been raised regarding the authenticity of the document, with Bitcoin community members stating that Craig was attempting to falsify a paper trail to legitimize his ownership of the large amounts of Bitcoin.
The Implications of this Suspicious Activity
Presently, it is difficult to adopt a conclusive deduction regarding this development. Nonetheless, some of the theories that have been fronted are slowly gaining traction, though they remain to be mere suppositions. For instance, some people believe that the consolidation of the funds into smaller wallets is in preparation for a transfer to cold storage wallets. Others have suggested the owner is organizing the BTC to sell them over-the-counter, since most platforms purchase the coins in round batches. Another hypothesis that is being spread is that the owner is trying to obscure the source of the BTC by conducting several random transactions.
Irrespective of the motive, it is obvious that Bitcoin traders have taken a keen interest on this development, and will therefore observe the associated wallets for a considerable period. If these Bitcoins hit the market, the resultant pressure is likely to have a major impact on the value of the cryptocurrency.
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