A Bitcoin address that had been dormant since the days of Satoshi Nakamoto was awakened for the first time in 10 years. A Bitcoin wallet containing 687 BTC ($43.9 million) transferred its holdings to two other wallets on May 6.
The wallet first transferred 625.43 Bitcoin (BTC) to an address starting with bc1qky and the remaining 61.9 BTC to bc1qdc. Fund movements from very old wallets, especially those from the Satoshi era, often arouse curiosity in the cryptocurrency community.
The term “Satoshi Era” is associated with the early days after Bitcoin was created when its anonymous founder, Nakamoto, was active in online forums. Some Satoshi-era wallets are often speculated to be linked to Satoshi himself.
One such wallet awoke from dormancy in August 2023, after nearly 14 years, and transferred 1,005 BTC mined in 2010. The wallet movement caused the most buzz on social media, with speculation that it was Satoshi’s wallet.
But experts suggest this is more likely to involve early miners or buyers just looking to make a profit.
According to a Fortune report, a total of 1.75 million Bitcoin wallets have remained inactive for over a decade. Many of these wallets contain significant BTC holdings, which are believed to have been purchased when BTC prices were trading in double digits and are currently worth millions of dollars.
This dormant wallet contains 1,798,681 bitcoins, worth about $121 billion at current prices.
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Over the past few years, numerous Satoshi-era wallets have become active and transferred their BTC holdings to new addresses. Some of these wallets were found to have moved their BTC holdings to cryptocurrency exchanges, suggesting they may be looking to profit almost a decade later.
In July 2023, a wallet that had been dormant for 11 years transferred $30 million worth of BTC. In November 2023, three Satoshi-era BTC wallets transferred $230 million in BTC after a six-year dormancy period.
The three wallets are presumed to be connected to the same individual or organization, as the last transaction was made on November 5, 2017.
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