Dormant Bitcoin Wallets Activate After 10 Years, Moving $61M in BTC

Two Bitcoin wallets, dormant for over a decade, have suddenly transferred nearly all of their contents, totaling 1,000 Bitcoin, now valued at $61 million. These wallets had been inactive since acquiring the Bitcoin more than ten years ago when the price per Bitcoin was just $134.

The first wallet, identified by the address “16vRq…qjzEa,” executed a transaction of 500 Bitcoin at block 843,131 on May 12 at 7:10 pm UTC. Shortly thereafter, the second wallet with the address “1DUJuH…NgfC5” moved its 500 Bitcoin two blocks later, as detailed by Blockchain.com’s Bitcoin block explorer.

The transactions occurred when Bitcoin’s value was significantly higher compared to their initial purchase price in September 2013, resulting in a remarkable appreciation of 456 times the original investment, totaling $61.2 million.

Following these movements, the 500 Bitcoin from the first wallet were redistributed to various other wallets. However, the Bitcoin from the second wallet has yet to be moved from its new address.

Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain noted the close timing of these transfers, suggesting that both wallets could be controlled by the same individual or entity. Prior to these movements, both addresses ranked as the equal 4,353rd-largest Bitcoin whales, according to BitInfoCharts.

This activity follows a recent pattern where a wallet from the Satoshi Nakamoto era moved 687 Bitcoin, valued at $43.9 million, just less than a week prior.

While these kinds of transactions from long-inactive wallets occur almost monthly, Chainalysis and Fortune report that nearly 1.8 million Bitcoin addresses have not seen any activity for over ten years. These hold approximately $121 billion worth of Bitcoin, excluding the holdings of Nakamoto.

It’s uncertain how much of this Bitcoin is irretrievably lost, but these 1.8 million addresses represent 8.5% of the total 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be mined.

Speculations about the reasons for reactivating dormant wallets include potential sales during favorable market conditions or transferring funds to more secure, non-custodial wallet services.

Currently, Bitcoin’s price stands at $61,450, marking a 130% increase over the past year, according to CoinGecko.