A bitcoin wallet dating back to the network’s early years moved 2,650 BTC — about $203 million — to two over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks on Sunday, in a rare sign of activity from so‑called Satoshi-era holdings.
Blockchain data from Arkham shows the coins were transferred in three batches of 1,000 BTC, 1,000 BTC, and 650 BTC. The wallet, attributed to an early bitcoin miner, still holds roughly 6,000 BTC, worth around $462 million at recent prices, according to Onchain Lens.
Rare move from Satoshi-era miner wallet
Wallets that have remained inactive for more than a decade are closely watched in the crypto market, both for their historical significance and their potential impact on liquidity and sentiment.
The decision to route funds through OTC desks suggests preparations for a large private sale or structured liquidity move. OTC venues let major holders transact off public order books, reducing the risk of sharp price swings that would likely follow if similar volumes hit spot exchanges directly.
Signals of broader selling strategy
The transfer of 2,650 BTC to OTC desks is viewed as a clear early step in a possible larger disposal strategy. With about 6,000 BTC still in the wallet, the latest move may represent only the first phase of a staggered selling plan.
These quiet positioning efforts are unfolding as US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds experience sustained outflows. From May 11 to May 17, US spot bitcoin ETFs saw six straight days of withdrawals, totaling $1.26 billion in net outflows — the largest weekly drain since late January 2026.
Price hovers below key production cost estimates
The activity occurred while bitcoin traded near $77,350–$77,347, after a modest 0.5% decline over the past month. That price sits below several widely cited estimates of average production cost:
- TradingView-based metrics put the cost near $93,175 per BTC.
- Capriole Investment estimates production at around $57,706.
- CryptoRank pegs the average cost for public miners at roughly $74,600.
- Earlier industry estimates for large industrial miners present a wide range, from about $40,000 to $80,000 per coin, depending mainly on power prices and hardware efficiency.
When spot prices fall under these thresholds, smaller and higher-cost mining operations often struggle to break even.
Mounting pressure on bitcoin miners
A March analysis from CoinShares suggested that roughly 20% of global bitcoin miners could be operating below cost, particularly those running older, less efficient rigs. This pressure has intensified following the latest halving, which cut block rewards and compressed margins.
The stress is visible in the hash price — miner revenue per unit of computing power — which has dropped to new post‑halving lows around $28–$30 per petahash per day. At these levels, many operators face razor-thin or negative margins, prompting:
- Consolidation or shutdowns among weaker or higher-cost miners.
- Relocation to regions with cheaper power.
- Aggressive hardware upgrades to more efficient machines.
Shift toward diversification and new revenue streams
To cope with this margin squeeze, some mining companies are diversifying into broader digital infrastructure services.
Soluna Holdings is one example. In the first quarter, it generated $6.7 million in revenue from data center hosting, while crypto mining revenue fell to about $2.2 million, down from nearly $3 million a year earlier. Other firms are similarly redirecting part of their data center capacity toward high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads, which promise steadier and often higher-margin income.
Link between large holder moves and miner stress
The combination of:
- a Satoshi-era miner wallet shifting significant volume to OTC desks,
- persistent ETF outflows, and
- growing cost pressure on miners
highlights a market under competing forces. Large private sales via OTC desks can temper visible order-book volatility, but they also signal that long-time holders may be taking profits or rebalancing amid an environment where production economics are under strain.
For traders, the activity from this early wallet adds another data point to a market already digesting lower hash prices, tightening miner margins, and sizable capital withdrawals from listed bitcoin products.
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