In a notable development for the crypto community, a dormant Bitcoin (BTC) wallet that had been untouched for over a decade has suddenly sprung back to life, transferring a staggering $8 million worth of the cryptocurrency to an external wallet.
According to a Monday tweet by popular crypto tracking platform Whale Alert, the address in question had been dormant for an astounding 10.8 years, holding 146 BTC.
Notably, when the wallet was first created in 2013, the 146 BTC were worth a mere $80,257. However, the recent transfer has seen the value of the holdings skyrocket to a staggering $8,094,469 mirroring a surge of almost 10,000% in value.
Interestingly, this isn’t an isolated incident in the cryptocurrency space, with cases like this occurring more frequently in recent months. On Thursday, Sep.5, another dormant wallet holding 35 BTC, valued at $1.99 million, was reactivated after 10.5 years of inactivity. On the same day, a separate wallet containing 31 BTC, worth $1.81 million, came back online after being inactive for nearly 12 years.
Late last month, another ancient Bitcoin wallet moved 64.59 BTC, valued at $4,142,579. The wallet first received the BTC in February 2011, when the cryptocurrency was priced at just $0.998 per coin, marking a staggering 6,426,000% increase in value.
Let us recall that in March, a wallet holding 2,000 BTC dating back to 2010 was reactivated, raising speculation about the owner’s identity. Some believe this wallet might have belonged to Nakamoto or Hal Finney, one of Bitcoin’s earliest developers and a key figure in the cryptocurrency’s history. Finney, who passed away in 2014, was known for his close association with Bitcoin’s anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
That said, the re-activation of these dormant wallets has caught the crypto community’s attention, fueling speculation about the owners’ identities and motives. Notably, the sudden activity of long-dormant Bitcoin wallets is often attributed to several factors, such as the owner deciding to sell or reinvest due to Bitcoin’s significant value increase.
The wallet may have been inherited or passed to a family member after the original owner’s death. Additionally, movements could be triggered by recovered lost keys or potential security breaches, such as one forgetting their seed phrase.
At press time, BTC was trading at $55,955, reflecting a 4.02% surge over the past 24 hours.
