Vintage Bitcoin Vaults Awaken — Over $41M in BTC Moves After 11.7 Years of Slumber

On Friday, March 29, 2024, an early bitcoin enthusiast who acquired their holdings in 2012 transferred 100 bitcoins, valued at approximately $6.98 million, at block height 836,813. Roughly 42 blocks later, at block height 836,855, another individual, or possibly the same entity, relocated 500 bitcoins from a wallet established on July 13, 2012, now estimated to be worth $34.9 million.

Dormant 2012 Bitcoins Worth $41 Million Mobilize

Undoubtedly, longstanding bitcoin holders have relished in BTC’s elevated valuation in U.S. dollars, prompting substantial token movements throughout this month. This period has set a new benchmark for the activity of so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins,’ yet transactions from wallets established in 2012 have not reached the levels seen in 2010, a trend largely attributed to the notorious mega whale.

However, on March 29, a notable shift occurred when 600 BTC from 2012, valued at approximately $41.88 million, were moved for the first time in 11.7 years. The initial address, known as “15TmD,” was a classic Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) wallet that first received its bitcoins on June 10, 2012.

This wallet executed a transfer of 100 BTC at the 836,813th block, distributing the funds to two Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH) wallets, one receiving 90 BTC and the other accruing a total of 9.99 BTC. The transaction fee amounted to roughly 0.001265 BTC, or $89.45, to facilitate this transfer. As of this writing, both recipient P2SH addresses have retained the transferred funds.

Interestingly, the recipient wallet of the 90 BTC had previously engaged in transactions, with one particular movement of 19.99 BTC on July 30, 2021, reportedly directed to ETC Group’s BTCE exchange-traded fund (ETF), as identified by Arkham Intelligence’s labeling system. Additionally, this same wallet dispatched 9.99 BTC on Feb. 18, 2021. Together, these transactions are connected to the 100 bitcoins transferred from the “15TmD” vintage wallet from 2012.

Blockchair attributed a privacy score of 45 to this transaction, indicating a low privacy level due to the detectability of matched inputs and outputs. A subsequent transfer from another wallet, originally established on July 13, 2012, occurred roughly 42 blocks later, involving the movement of 500 bitcoins that had been dormant for nearly 12 years. This also was conducted from a legacy P2PKH wallet, directing the bitcoins to 274 unique P2PKH addresses, most of which now hold slightly over 1 BTC each.

This transaction boasted significantly higher privacy, earning a score of 85 for moderate privacy, limited by software-related issues that cannot be remedied, notably due to repeated address appearances in the inputs. Although the majority of the 1, 2, and 5 BTC output addresses remain untouched, the user transferred 85 bitcoins to a P2SH wallet, which then moved those coins to a subsequent address.

Data reveals that throughout March, a total of eight wallets from 2012 have activated, mobilizing their holdings for the first time in 11.7 years. This activity included the notable movement of 600 BTC on a single Friday, alongside an additional 144.7 BTC earlier in the month. This level of activity contrasts with the 101 transfers moved from 2010 wallets and the 97 transactions from 2015 wallets during the same period.

What do you think about 600 bitcoins from 2012 moving after 11.7 years? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.

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