Bitcoin OG Address From 2010 Moves to Cashout $1.49M Using Coinbase

A Bitcoin wallet address with its last activity  in 2010 has transferred 20.99 BTC ($1.56 million) to Coinbase

A dormant Bitcoin wallet associated with the early days of the cryptocurrency has suddenly sprung back to life after 13.9 years of inactivity raising speculations. According to on-chain data, the address was last active in April 2010, when it received 50 BTC as a block reward from mining.

Since then, the address has held on to the funds until earlier today, when it transferred 20.99 BTC, valued at approximately $1.49 million, to the crypto exchange Coinbase. 

💤 💤 💤 A dormant address containing 50 #BTC (3,672,280 USD) has just been activated after 13.9 years!https://t.co/FJrob7piXU

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) March 14, 2024

The latest transfers come at a time when Bitcoin’s value has surged si, attaining new peak prices on several occasions. Earlier this week, the leading cryptocurrency saw an all-time high above $73,200. 

At the current market value, the Bitcoin holder behind the transaction is sitting on approximately $3.7 million worth of profits, given Bitcoin’s closing price of $0.30 in 2010. Although the entity has moved around $1.49 million of this amount, the address that received the change for the transaction still holds 29 BTC (approximately $2.06 million) at the time of writing.

Crypto Community Reacts

The exact reason for this wallet’s recent reactivation is unknown; however, the fact that it dates back to the early days of cryptocurrency, a period associated with Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, interests the community. 

Some speculate it might be a lost or forgotten Bitcoin wallet rediscovered by its original owner. One of them is Gabor Gurbacs, a strategic advisor at Tether and VanEck, who expressed his delight when people discovered keys to their old wallets. He also mentioned that 50 BTC, which was the amount contained in the wallet, was common with ancient wallets with lost keys, given that Bitcoin was relatively easy to mine in its early stages.

Although it is unclear who owns the wallet or why he decided to reactivate it at this time, Bitcoin wallet addresses go dormant for a variety of reasons, including people serving jail time, losing private keys and not being able to find them for years, or just HODLing. 

Bitcoin wallets from the Satoshi era always draw attention due to their proximity to the time when Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was active in the community. These wallets are frequently monitored because movements within them could be linked to early adopters who have remained out of the spotlight.