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Dormant Bitcoin Wallet Awakens After 14 Years, Transfers 50 BTC to Exchange
- A Bitcoin wallet dormant since 2010 has suddenly become active, transferring 50 BTC, currently worth around US$3 million, to Coinbase.
- The transfer likely means the owner intends to sell their Bitcoin in the near future, possibly signalling a coming increase in seller activity.
A Bitcoin wallet that’s been inactive since 2010 has woken up and it could be bad news for Bitcoin’s price action. Fifty BTC, valued at around US$3 million (AU$4.7 million), were transferred to the centralised crypto exchange Coinbase, potentially indicating the wallet’s owner intends to sell their Bitcoin in the near future.
These kinds of dormant wallets suddenly waking up is generally considered a bad omen, as it suggests more Bitcoin is going to be sold, increasing supply in the market and suppressing the price.
Old Wallet Looking To Take Some Extremely Fat Profits
On-chain data shows that the 50 BTC contained in the wallet was earned as mining rewards way back in April of 2010 in what crypto ‘archeologists’ refer to as the ‘Satoshi Era’, because during this time Satoshi was still actively participating in Bitcoin forums.
Just as a reminder, in April 2010, songs like ‘Hey Soul Sister’, by Train and ‘Baby’ by Justin Bieber, were dominating the charts and the top movie was ‘Clash of the Titans’ — it was a long time ago. Back then Bitcoin was still worth under US$1 and the first halving was more than 2 years away.
If the owner was to sell at current prices they’d get around US$3 million for their BTC, an astonishing return for mining some Bitcoin worth next to nothing in 2010.
What Does This Mean For the Market?
There’s an awful lot going on at the moment that could sway the Bitcoin price — the fourth halving is due any day now, ETFs in Hong Kong are just around the corner, and then there’s the macroeconomic and geopolitical factors that could impact all markets, not just crypto.
Related: Breaking: Hong Kong Approves Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs
A pattern of old dormant wallets becoming active raises concerns that the Bitcoin price will decline due to an uptick in supply.
In July 2023, a wallet that was dormant for 12 years transferred over 1,000 BTC, then in December 2023 another wallet transferred another tranche of over 1000 BTC to over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks and crypto custody services.
Author
Jody McDonald
Jody is a Brisbane-based freelance writer who specialises in writing about business, technology, and the future of work.
