Two mysterious Bitcoin (BTC) wallets containing 1,000 bitcoins — worth $61 million at current prices — have suddenly awakened after a 10-year hiatus, with nearly every satoshi transferred.
The wallet address “16vRq…qjzEa” transferred 500 BTC in block 843,131 on May 12 at 7:10 PM UTC, while the other 500 BTC were sent by address “1DUJuH…NgfC5” two blocks later, according to Blockchain’s Bitcoin Block .com. Explorer.
Each wallet received 500 bitcoins on September 12 and 13, 2013, when the price of bitcoin was $134, according to CoinGecko.
At current prices, the total amount transferred is now worth 456 times more than the acquisition price, which is $61.2 million.
Since the transfers, one of the receiving addresses from “16vRq…qjzEa” has already transferred 500 BTC to a large number, while the recipient from “1DUJuH…NgfC5” still holds 500 BTC.
The proximity of inbound and outbound transfers prompted blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain to link the two transactions together, and onlookers believed the two wallets were owned by the same person or entity.
Before the transfers, the two addresses were the 4,353rd largest Bitcoin whales, according to BitInfoCharts.
Less than a week ago, a Satoshi Nakamoto-era bitcoin wallet transferred 687 bitcoins, worth $43.9 million, to two separate addresses.
Related: The “Epic sat” mined from the fourth Bitcoin halving block is being sold for $2.1 million
While at least one of these early Bitcoin wallets tends to wake up every month, there are roughly 1.8 million Bitcoin addresses that have remained dormant for more than a decade, according to a recent analysis by Chainalogy and Fortune.
These wallets, which exclude Nakamoto’s wallet, contain about $121 billion worth of bitcoin, Fortune said.
While it is impossible to know the extent of the loss, the 1.8 million addresses represent 8.5% of the total 21 million Bitcoin that will ever exist.
People often speculate that dormant wallets may wake up to sell Bitcoin at an opportune time, while others suggest that it may be to transfer funds to a different address, perhaps under a more secure uncensored wallet service provider.
Bitcoin is currently priced at $61,450 and has risen 130% over the past 12 months, according to CoinGecko.
Big questions: How can Bitcoin payments come back?
