Two Dormant Wallets Transfer 2,571 Bitcoin Worth $206.52 Million to Coinbase Prime
Key Facts
Two wallets that had been inactive since 2023 transferred a total of 2,571 bitcoin to Coinbase Prime on Monday, October 26, at a stated value of $206.52 million, according to Lookonchain data. The transfer followed three years of inactivity, the source reported, returning to public trading coins that had remained dormant since they were received that year. Bitcoin.com News said the amount reached a single deposit address in two transfers three minutes apart. The deposit alone does not mean the coin owners sold them, as Coinbase Prime offers custody and over-the-counter trading services, among others. The move therefore points to the transfer of a large holding to an institutional platform, while the coins’ subsequent disposition remains unclear.
Details of the transfer published by Bitcoin.com News show that the larger wallet sent 1,584.89 bitcoin, while the other sent 986.18 bitcoin. The two amounts reached Coinbase Prime three minutes apart and were deposited at the same address. Lookonchain data describes the transfer as a total deposit of 2,571 bitcoin, not a completed sale. The source also said the wallets had remained dormant for three years before the move. The report dates the transfer to Monday, October 26, after the period of inactivity began in 2023.
The coins originated in two batches received by the wallets in 2023, according to Bitcoin.com News. The larger wallet received 1,584.89 bitcoin on January 18 that year, while the other received 986.18 bitcoin on May 30. These dates provide a timeline for the holdings before the deposit, without identifying the wallet owners. The report estimated the cost of acquiring the coins at about $60 million at the time, compared with a value of about $206 million when they were transferred on October 26. It said bitcoin was priced at $80,300 when the value was calculated, illustrating the gap between the estimated cost and the stated market value at the time of the move.
Coinbase Prime combines custody, trading, financing and settlement services in an institutional platform, according to the company’s help page. This means coins arriving on the platform may be intended for custody or over-the-counter trading, and does not confirm a sale on the open market. Bitcoin.com News said Coinbase Prime is a custody and over-the-counter trading platform. The deposit alone is therefore insufficient to establish that the amounts in question were offered for sale or to determine the timing of any subsequent action. The available information included no statement from the wallet owners about their reasons for the transfer.
Coinbase shares, traded under the ticker COIN, closed at $159.6 on October 26, according to EL7 data. No details on the stock’s trading range during the session are available in the open data here. The transfer came ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled for October 27 and 28, with a press conference set for October 28, according to the Federal Reserve’s calendar. At its September 16 meeting, the central bank had raised its target interest-rate range by a quarter percentage point to 3.75%–4%. This places the next monetary policy decision among the events scheduled after the transfer, without sources linking the meeting to the wallets’ activity.