- A Bitcoin account with assets mined in 2009 has moved over $3.5 million worth of the coin.
- The wallet still has more than 1,160 BTC left, worth over $72 million.
- The transfer is one of a few that happened this year, as several old and dormant wallets seem to be active again.
An early Bitcoin whale has moved$3.58 million worth of Bitcoin in under two weeks. The transferred assets are part of an early batch mined one month after the blockchain launched back in 2009.
Blockchain data and analysis platform Arkham Intelligence announced the transfer in a post on X (formerly Twitter). The post specified that the wallet is a Bitcoin whale. It holds more than $72.5 million worth of BTC mined around the network’s inception. According to an image from the post, the account now holds 1,169 BTC. That’s after moving 10 BTC worth $610,000 on October 3. On September 24, the wallet moved 5 BTC to Kraken. At the time, the balance was 1215 BTC, worth $77 million.
The movement of Bitcoin from an early whale wallet could benefit the market by assuring public confidence. Whale wallets selling large amounts of Bitcoin could also temporarily lower the asset’s price and offer a potential liquidity pump. These advantages could bring more attention to Bitcoin and increase its usage across multiple industries and outside traditional blockchain services.
For instance, BTC publicity could boost crypto gambling. It can prompt players to find some of the best sites for Bitcoin slot games and other casino titles. With enough players flocking to Bitcoin casinos, institutional interest in these establishments may increase, directly boosting the Bitcoin market.
Dormant Bitcoins are Moving
According to Arkham, the whale had moved Bitcoin a few times from 2011 to 2014. After that, the account remained dormant for nearly 10 consecutive years. In that time, the account’s value grew almost 17,000%, from $474,000 to more than $80 million. A few days earlier, five addresses with Bitcoin mined around the same time, moved $16 million worth of Bitcoin (250 BTC) after 15 years of dormancy. Each of the addresses had received 50 BTC for mining early Bitcoin blocks: 2247, 2401, 2455, 2486, and 2690.
Several dormant BTC wallets are now recording new activity. For instance, a wallet dormant for over a decade moved 50 BTC, worth about $3M at the time, in April. The transfer is the first activity the wallet has recorded since April 2010. Some believe the wallet may belong to Satoshi Nakamoto, the unknown creator of the Bitcoin blockchain. Others think someone likely rediscovered their private keys after losing them earlier. The holder transferred the assets to another account on the Coinbase exchange.
In July last year, one wallet transferred $30 million after 11 years of dormancy. The other one also moved 1,005 BTC after a month. Last December, another wallet moved more than 1,000 BTC after 13 years of inactivity.
BTC Move as Filmmaker Suggests Revelation of Satoshi’s Identity
Responses to Arkham’s revelations are bullish. That suggests that the Bitcoin community is still relevant and that the future of crypto is looking brighter. Interestingly, the BTC transfers from early wallets are happening as HBO and filmmaker Cullen Hoback tease their upcoming film titled “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery.”
In a post on X, Hoback hints that the film will uncover Satoshi’s true identity. Notably, neither the film’s official trailer nor Hoback has explicitly confirmed that Nakamoto’s identity is known or will be revealed in the film. Hoback is popular for his “Q: Into the Storm.” That’s a documentary television miniseries that analyzes the QAnon conspiracy theory and the people involved.
Experts have extensively discussed, debated, and investigated the true identity of Satoshi in the blockchain’s 15-year history. However, no person or group of people has been definitely proven as the brain, or brains, behind Bitcoin. For a long time, popular computer scientist and one of Bitcoin SV’s creators, Craig Wright, claimed he was Satoshi and sued detractors. However, Wright himself has now disclaimed his own theory and has been sued for perjury.
