Researchers have proposed a new theory about Satoshi Nakamoto — that the creator of Bitcoin has never stopped operating and has strategically withdrawn funds from the original Bitcoin wallets since 2019.

In a post on November 19, Bitcoin research company BTCparser stated that there are many Bitcoin wallet addresses ($BTC ) created in 2010, each holding 50 Bitcoin, which were never moved until the first "awakening" in November 2019 — which they call the "2010 super whale."

BTCparser's hypothesis suggests that Nakamoto owns these wallets and has gradually sold the coins they accumulated while deliberately keeping their 2009 wallet intact to avoid drawing attention.

"This makes me suspect that the mysterious giant whale from 2010 could actually be Satoshi," BTCparser stated in the post on November 19.

However, BTCparser emphasized that this is only a "hypothesis, not a conclusion."

Source: Vladimir S

BTCparser indicated that if Satoshi is behind these wallets in 2010, "this suggests the image of a creator who meticulously planned to ensure their privacy."

"If Satoshi had access to the 2010 minting coin treasure, there would be no need to touch the original 2009 wallet. Using these later coins would avoid drawing attention to the original treasure, maintaining anonymity and reducing the risk of revealing Satoshi's identity."

How the funds were liquidated

This amount was gathered into a single P2SH address, commonly used as a custodial account, before being sent to multiple bech32 addresses — a type of address that provides low transaction fees and efficiently uses block space.

$5 million worth of Bitcoin from these addresses was sold for the first time in November 2019, with the second and third sales at around $6-8 million and $11-13 million occurring in March and October 2020.

The fourth sale was a liquidation worth $176 million that took place 10 days ago, on November 15, 2024.

"The increasing selling volume corresponds with the rising value of Bitcoin, suggesting that this whale has withdrawn funds strategically."

BTCparser stated that Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange where these coins were sent, is likely to know more about the individual or organization behind these transactions unless this whale operates through an intermediary.