A Bitcoin wallet that has been dormant since 2014 suddenly woke up and moved over 174 bitcoins worth more than $102 million.
Blockchain data showed that the Bitcoin (BTC) wallet that received 174.88 BTC on Jan. 8, 2014, moved funds for the first time on Aug. 16, 2024.
The transfer comes after a decade, during which Bitcoin’s price soared to highs of $73,000 before retreating to current levels.
Transaction cost
While BTC’s initial value was nearly $142,000 in 2014, the staggering gains the flagship cryptocurrency has seen since mean that the 174.88 bitcoin is now worth more than $10.2 million.
Blockchain tracker Whale Alert spotted this dormant Bitcoin wallet movement on Aug. 16.
The transaction fee for the transfer was 67,500 satoshis, or $39.43, which is considerably low. However, per mempool details, this was still an overpayment of 50x that saw the $10.2 million transaction confirmed quickly.
In October 2018, the wallet’s holdings totaled about $896,000, and crossed the $5 million mark in late January 2021.
According to data on blockchain explorer Blockchair, the addresses’ balance currently stands at 0.00004226 BTC, worth $2.50 at the current Bitcoin price of $59,300.
Bitcoin wallets waking up
The last few months have seen a rising frequency of dormant Bitcoin addresses waking up to move millions of dollars worth of BTC. It’s notable that Satoshi-era addresses — those holding coins mined in the first few months of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s time — have not been common.
However, the past few months have seen multiple dormant wallets suddenly move, including one that woke up after a 12-year hibernation to transfer $6.9 million in BTC in July this year. Another wallet sent $3 million in BTC to Binance in June after being dormant for over 14 years.
Whale Alert also spotted this other dormant wallet movement.
Currently, about 18.3 million BTC are in dormant Bitcoin wallets. BitInfoCharts data shows a sharp rise since January 2024, when cumulatively, dormant BTC wallets held about 7.4 million coins.
In most cases, investors watch the movement of BTC in dormant wallets as potential sources of fresh supply pressure on prices. ‘Sell wall’ investors often see prices struggle, resulting in huge volatility.