An address in the Bitcoin network that had been dormant for years, dating back to the time when Satoshi Nakamoto was still active, suddenly started working again. Its owner transferred his resources – 687 BTC ($43.9 million) – to two other addresses.
Has anyone remembered their wealth? Satoshi-era BTC wallet with over 600 coins!
Someone transferred 625.43 BTC from his wallet to an address starting with bc1qky, and the remaining 61.9 BTC to an address starting with bc1qdc. There would be nothing strange about it, if it were not for the fact that it is an address from the “Satoshi era”.
The term “Satoshi era” refers to the beginnings of Bitcoin as a network. The period when the anonymous founder of the entire project was still active on internet forums. It is often speculated that some wallets from this era are associated with Nakamoto himself. However, there is no evidence for this.
The movements described above are not unique. One such wallet from Bitcoin's Jurassic era was reactivated in August 2023 after almost 14 years. Then 1,005 BTC mined in 2010 went into circulation.
In July 2023, a wallet that had been inactive for 11 years moved $30 million in BTC. In November 2023, three wallets on the Satoshi-era BTC network moved $230 million in BTC six years after the funds were frozen.
1.75 million “dead” wallets
According to Fortune's report, a total of 1.75 million wallets on the bitcoin network have remained inactive for over a decade. Many of them contain significant BTC holdings that were worth little at the time of purchase, but can now be traded for millions of USD.
In total, the dormant wallets contain 1,798,681 bitcoins worth approximately $121 billion (at today's bitcoin price).
Over the past few years, many Satoshi-era wallets have been activated. Objective? Transferring BTC to a new address. Only some of these wallets moved their holdings to cryptocurrency exchanges, which suggests that their owners may have wanted to sell their coins.
