Decade-Old Bitcoin Wallets Moved $40 Million, but Dormant-Coin Activity Is at Its Lowest Since 2022

Six wallets that had not moved in a decade transferred about $40 million of bitcoin this month, and most of those coins did not go to exchanges, CoinDesk reported, citing data from Galaxy. The same data show total movement of long-dormant coins at its lowest level since 2022, with 2026 on course for less than half of last year's volume. Coins that move to self-custody rather than to an exchange are usually being reorganised rather than sold.

The price movement diverges from the pattern in metals. Bitcoin opened Friday at $80,261.86, up 1.5 percent from Thursday's opening level, and traded near $79,500 later that morning, according to Yahoo Finance. Gold, by contrast, fell more than 3 percent as traders priced a possible Federal Reserve rate increase.

CoinDesk has reported that "financial repression" has become the central argument among bitcoin buyers this month, tied to the Treasury's efforts to hold down long-term yields. That thesis and Friday's trading session support different conclusions. Repression is an argument about the erosion of real returns over years. A hawkish central bank chair tightening into 3.4 percent consumer price inflation is a near-term liquidity signal, and it is the near-term signal that has moved the metals.