Over a Dozen 11-Year-Old Bitcoin Wallets Awaken, Transferring Millions

In recent days, as bitcoin edged past the $60,000 mark after dipping below $50,000 on Monday, Aug. 5, a couple of intriguing dormant bitcoin transfers have surfaced from wallets established in 2013. The first case involved an individual who moved 250 BTC—worth just over $15 million—from a long-inactive address created on May 12, 2013. In another curious instance, a separate entity transferred 130 BTC across 13 individual transactions.

Forgotten Bitcoin From 2013 Resurfaces, Moving $23M in 2 Days

On Aug. 7 and 9, 2024, a few long-dormant bitcoin wallets from 2013 unexpectedly sprang to life after years of inactivity. The first of these addresses reawakened on Wednesday, having remained untouched for 11 years and two months, spending nearly 250 BTC, valued at just over $15 million. When the BTC was initially acquired, the price of the cryptocurrency was a mere $113 per coin, making the original value of the owner’s holdings about $28,250.

The funds were moved from a single legacy Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) wallet into several Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH) or Bech32 wallets. Despite multiple instances of the same address appearing in the inputs, Blockchair.com’s privacy meter awarded the transaction a flawless score of 100. Then, on Aug. 9, 2024, at block height 855,986, another individual transferred 10 BTC.

But the activity didn’t stop there—12 additional transactions followed, each transferring 10 BTC. The wallets used were created between late August and November 2013. Altogether, the entity spent 130 BTC (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) across blocks 855,986 to 856,090. The funds left legacy P2PKH wallets for a P2WPKH wallet, which once held a 99.99 BTC balance, but now holds zero BTC, and has accumulated 658.18 BTC since its inception.

The privacy of these transactions wasn’t as strong as the 250 BTC transfer, and it’s worth noting that the 130 BTC was moved using the ‘send everything’ option to the Bech32 wallet. Between the 250 BTC and the 130 BTC, all originating from 2013 wallets across a total of 14 transfers, the total value amounted to just over $23 million at current BTC exchange rates.

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