Bitcoin Awakening: Dormant Wallets Stir, $61 Million BTC Transfer

Two long-dormant Bitcoin wallets, holding a combined 1,000 BTC worth $61 million at current prices, reawakened after a 10-year slumber and transferred nearly every satoshi they held.

The wallet address “16vRq…qjzEa” sent its 500 BTC at block 843,131 on May 12 at 7:10 pm UTC. The other 500 BTC came from the address “1DUJuH…NgfC5” just two blocks later, according to Blockchain.com’s explorer.

These wallets received 500 BTC on September 12 and 13, 2013, when Bitcoin traded around $134 per coin, according to CoinGecko data. The combined transferred amount is now valued at $61.2 million, 456 times higher.

After the transfers, one receiving address from “16vRq…qjzEa” immediately disbursed the 500 BTC to many new addresses. However, the other receiver from “1DUJuH…NgfC5” still holds its 500 BTC.

The proximity of the inbound and outbound transactions led blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain to theorize the two wallets belonged to the same entity. Before awakening, they represented the equal 4,353rd largest BTC holdings, according to BitInfoCharts.

2 wallets that have been dormant for 10.7 years transferred all 1,000 $BTC($60.9M) out in the past 20 mins.

Wallet"16vRqA" received 500 $BTC($62K at that time) on Sept 13, 2013, when the price was $124.

Wallet"1DUJuH" received 500 $BTC($62K at that time) on Sept 12, 2013, when… pic.twitter.com/l5ivjrcRt5
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 12, 2024

Dormant Bitcoin Wallets Awaken: $121B Resurgence

A wallet from the Satoshi Nakamoto era transferred 687 BTC worth $43.9 million to two separate addresses just days prior. While ancient wallets reactivate monthly, nearly 1.8 million Bitcoin addresses have lain dormant for over a decade, based on Chainalysis and Fortune’s findings.

Excluding Nakamoto’s wallet, these idle addresses contain around $121 billion worth of Bitcoin supply. Fortune estimates some have been lost, but the 1.8 million addresses still account for 8.5% of Bitcoin’s capped 21 million supply.

Observers frequently speculate dormant wallets reactivate to sell BTC at opportune times or to migrate funds to more secure non-custodial wallets and services.

According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin trades at $61,450, up 130% over the past year. During Bitcoin’s latest bull run and price surge, revived wallets timed their reawakening.

Bitcoin’s change in price since April 2013. Source: CoinGecko

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