A dormant Bitcoin address from the era when Satoshi Nakamoto was still active woke up after 10 years. Movement from very old wallets, especially from Satoshi’s time, always tickles the curiosity of the crypto community. The term “Satoshi era” refers to the early days after Bitcoin’s creation, when its pseudonymous founder Nakamoto was actively engaging in forums. It’s often speculated that some wallets from Satoshi’s era are linked to Satoshi himself.
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Stories of Revival
One such wallet stirred from its slumber in August 2023, nearly 14 years later, and in 2010, it transferred 1005 BTC mined back then. The movement sparked the most buzz on social media, with many assuming it was Satoshi’s wallet.
A Bitcoin wallet containing 687 BTC ($43.9 million) shifted its assets to two different wallets on May 6th. First, it moved 625.43 bitcoins to an address starting with “bc1qky,” and 61.9 bitcoins to “bc1qdc.”
According to a Fortune report, a total of 1.75 million Bitcoin wallets had remained inactive for over ten years. Many of these wallets hold significant BTC reserves, purchased when BTC prices were in double digits and are now valued in the millions.
These dormant wallets hold 1,798,681 bitcoins, worth approximately $121 billion at today’s prices. We reckon the owners simply lost access to these wallets and are now kicking themselves seeing the current prices of the first cryptocurrency.
Sleeping Wallets Activity
Over the past couple of years, numerous wallets from Satoshi’s era have been activated only to transfer their BTC assets to a new address. It has also been discovered that some of these wallets moved their BTC reserves to cryptocurrency exchanges, suggesting that they might be aiming to make a profit after nearly a decade of dormancy.
In 2023, several Bitcoin wallets from Satoshi’s era emerged from hibernation and transferred their BTC to a new address.
A sleepy Bitcoin wallet (BTC), holding over 1037 bitcoins — worth $31 million at current prices — suddenly woke up after an 11-year nap, transferring its entire stash. The anonymous Bitcoin whale saw a growth of over 600,000% compared to buying BTC in 2012 at $4.92.
Three more Bitcoin whale addresses from Satoshi’s era, dormant since November 2017, on November 2nd, moved 6500 BTC, totaling approximately $230 million. The first wallet transferred 2550 BTC, worth $90 million according to BitInfoCharts. The second address saw around 2000 BTC moved, totaling $71 million, and the third address transferred about 1950 BTC, amounting to $69 million.
1037 BTC were transferred at a Bitcoin price of $29,956 and took effect at block height 799701, around 10:51 AM UTC on July 22nd.
On June 11th, another mysterious Bitcoin whale transferred 1400 BTC — worth $36 million at the time — to a Pay-to-Taproot address. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju believes this transaction might have been motivated by a desire for increased privacy.
In April, another Bitcoin address transferred 2071 BTC, totaling $60 million — almost a decade after BTC hit $663 as per Lookonchain.
While some may have simply lost access to their wallets, others seem to be strategically moving their assets, possibly to capitalize on the soaring value of Bitcoin. Whatever the reasons behind these movements, billions of dollars in Bitcoin reserves are now in motion after years of inactivity.
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