A Bitcoin wallet that had been dormant since 2014 suddenly woke up and transferred over 174 bitcoins worth over $102 million.
Blockchain data showed that the Bitcoin (BTC) wallet that received 174.88 BTC on January 8, 2014, moved funds for the first time on August 16, 2024.
The move comes after a decade in which Bitcoin’s price hit highs of $73,000 before falling back 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 then mean that the $174.88 bitcoin is now worth over $10.2 million.
Blockchain tracker Whale Alert spotted this dormant Bitcoin wallet movement on August 16.
The transaction fee for the transfer was 67,500 satoshis, or $39.43, which is considerably low. However, according to the mempool details, this was still a 50x overpayment that allowed the $10.2 million transaction to be quickly confirmed.
As of October 2018, the wallet contained approximately $896,000 and crossed the $5 million mark in late January 2021.
According to data from blockchain explorer Blockchair, the address balance currently stands at 0.00004226 BTC, worth $2.50 at the current Bitcoin price of $59,300.
Bitcoin Wallets Are Waking Up
In recent months, there has been an increase in the frequency of dormant Bitcoin addresses waking up to move millions of dollars worth of BTC. It is worth noting that Satoshi-era addresses (those holding coins mined in the early months of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s era) were not common.
However, in recent months, several dormant wallets have suddenly moved, 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 inactive for over 14 years.
Whale Alert also spotted this other dormant wallet move.
Currently, There are approximately 18.3 million BTC sitting in inactive Bitcoin wallets. Data from BitInfoCharts shows a sharp increase since January 2024, When cumulatively, inactive BTC wallets contained approximately 7.4 million coins.
In most cases, investors look at BTC movement in dormant wallets as potential sources of further price pressure. Investors who adopt the “sell wall” often see prices struggle, leading to massive volatility.
