Bitcoin Wallet Springs to Life After More Than a Decade of Inactivity
A Bitcoin wallet that had been dormant for over 10 years suddenly became active again, sparking speculation within the cryptocurrency community. On May 6, the wallet transferred 687.33 BTC, worth $43.893 million, to undisclosed wallet addresses.
The transaction involved two transfers: one for 625.42 BTC valued at $41 million, and the other for 61.9 BTC worth approximately $2.89 million. The wallet had been inactive since it received the Bitcoin on January 12, 2014, when the cryptocurrency was trading at $917 per coin. At the time, the value of the wallet’s holdings was $630,000. Today, with BTC worth $63.8K, the profit stands at an astounding 6,875%.
The reactivated wallet has connections to the early days of Bitcoin, also known as the Satoshi era, when the mysterious founder Nakamoto was active in online forums. Some speculate that wallets from this era could be linked to Satoshi himself.
This isn’t the first time dormant Bitcoin wallets have suddenly become active. In November 2023, Satoshi-era Bitcoin whales transferred $230 million worth of BTC after six years of inactivity. In August 2023, a wallet containing 1,005 BTC mined in 2010 was reactivated and transferred to new addresses. The value of the coins at the time of receipt was just $328.
In April 2024, another dormant Bitcoin wallet that had been inactive for almost 14 years sprang to life. The Bitcoin whale moved 50 BTC to Coinbase, making a profit of over $3 million on coins that were once worth less than a penny each.
The recent activation of the dormant wallet has raised concerns about a potential selloff. It is speculated that the Bitcoin whale may have decided to liquidate a significant portion of their BTC holdings due to recent price fluctuations. Some traders believe these activations are driven by early miners or buyers looking to make a profit, while others are cautious about the potential impact on the market.
According to a Fortune report, there are approximately 1.75 million dormant Bitcoin wallets that have been inactive for over a decade, collectively holding 1,798,681 BTC valued at about $121 billion. This rise in dormant wallets can be attributed to Bitcoin’s early days when the cryptocurrency had little value. Many individuals who received Bitcoin may have forgotten about it or failed to secure the private keys necessary to access their wallets.
While some of these dormant wallets may be lost or abandoned, data from Chainalysis suggests that old wallets will continue to reactivate slowly until the number of lost Bitcoins stabilizes, estimated to be around 1.5 million coins.
