In a notable development within the crypto community, a long-dormant Bitcoin wallet from the Satoshi era has suddenly sprung to life, executing a transaction worth $5.96 million. The event, which occurred on Thursday, was first reported by the blockchain tracking service Whale Alert.
“A dormant address containing 100 BTC (5,964,455 USD) has just been activated after 11.4 years (worth 14,202 USD in 2013)!” Whale Alert tweeted, sending ripples through the crypto world.
Notably, the wallet that moved on Thursday saw its value increase by 41,900% over the 11.4 years of dormancy.
That said, the latest awakening of a “sleeping giant” wallet is not an isolated incident. It follows a series of similar events in recent months, each sparking speculation and intrigue within the cryptocurrency community.
Just two weeks ago, on August 16, another long-dormant wallet moved 174 BTC, worth approximately $10.1 million. That particular wallet had been inactive for over 10 years, receiving its first cryptocurrency deposit in 2014 for a mere $142,600. The value of those bitcoins had grown more than 70 times over the decade of inactivity.
On August 9, another wallet that had been inactive for 11 years suddenly transferred 190 BTC, worth an estimated $11.5 million. Notably, at the time of the initial deposit in 2013, the wallet was valued at just over $12,000, which means in 11.4 years, that investment had grown by an astonishing factor of nearly 950.
Additionally, in early March, another unidentified entity sold 1,000 BTC mined in 2010. This transaction netted approximately $68 million, highlighting the enormous potential for long-term value growth in the cryptocurrency space.
That said, while these “awakenings” serve as a vivid reminder of Bitcoin’s potential for extraordinary returns over time, they have also raised intriguing questions about the motivations behind these long-term holders. Some analysts have suggested that early Bitcoin adopters might finally be cashing in on their long-held investments, while others speculate these could be lost wallets whose owners have only recently regained access.
Meanwhile, the phenomenon of lost bitcoins or “zombie coins” is a significant factor in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. According to Glassnode estimates, as much as 10% (or 2.1 million BTC) of all Bitcoins might be permanently lost due to forgotten passwords, discarded hard drives, or deceased owners who never shared their wallet access information.
Notably, these lost coins effectively reduce the circulating supply of Bitcoin, potentially increasing the value of the remaining accessible coins. Therefore, the re-emergence of long-dormant wallets not only represents personal windfalls for the owners but also has implications for the broader Bitcoin market.
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