Satoshi’s Bitcoin Is Awake: 1,005 BTC From 2010 Have Been Moved
After 13 years of inactivity, 1,005 BTC worth $29 million has been transferred from a legacy Bitcoin wallet, reminiscent of the recent dormant BTC movement.
An anonymous user moved the coins from a Bitcoin (BTC), a 1,005 BTC wallet mined in 2010, to different addresses. Kirill Kretov, a blockchain developer, researcher, and cryptocurrency trader, spoke about the incident after noticing BTC’s movement for the first time. BTC was mined just a year after Bitcoin was created. AskFX independently confirmed the wallet details using Blockchair blockchain data. The wallet statement states that the 1,005 BTC received in 2010 was worth just $328. At the time of publication, the coins were valued at over $29 million.
The entire cryptocurrency community has taken note of this BTC awakening. Some wondered if Satoshi Nakamoto’s pseudonymous creation, Bitcoin, actually moved coins.
Looks like Satoshi is back! I can bet this wallet is owned by Satoshi Nakamoto himself.
— CoinWestern (@thecoinwestern) August 16, 2023
Kretov told that Bitcoin’s founder is unlikely to be silently moving new BTC. He suggested that a long-time holder or a company associated with previous dormant Bitcoin revivals could be behind the transaction. The researcher said that the holder may be selling bitcoin over the counter:
I expect the price to be above the current market as they are all 100% clean bitcoins. They are also very old, which makes them particularly attractive to cryptonumismatists.
Kretov posits that the wallet may be controlled by a user who has already transferred bitcoin between wallets 13 times in the period 2020-2021. The researcher said there were 13 revivals of 1,000 BTC each (from 20 wallets with 50 BTC mined), for a total of 13,000 BTC.
Kretov noted that his research archive, which monitors a large number of new bitcoin wallets in the early years of bitcoin’s existence, has only identified three other 1,000 BTC awakenings.
One such case was when 1,000 BTC was moved from two wallets mined in 2011. In April 2023, 1,000 BTC were transferred from wallets mined in 2011, before in July 2023 1,037 BTC were transferred from a wallet mined in 2012
“These BTC are not newly mined, but are from 2011 and 2012.” The present awakening is closer to these 13 instances.”
Another dormant BTC account with more than 1,037 coins has moved its funds to another address. BTC was purchased in April 2012 for an estimated $5,100. Its total value in 2023 when it was transferred was about $31 million.
