• An old cache of Bitcoin has resurfaced after the holder sent it to another wallet.

    • Glassnode says that despite the wallets’ current value, it’s unlikely that the owners of these ancient wallets will sell them.

    Bitcoin purchased in 2011, which had not moved for nearly 12 years, came back to life on Thursday when 139 BTC belonging to address 1H1Ab6 were transferred to a newly created Segwit address. The coins are part of the so-called Ancient Supply, which refers to BTC purchased at least seven years ago.

    Moving old Bitcoins between wallets

    This isn’t the first time an old asset has been resurrected, according to a report from Glassnode, 3,200 BTC have been resurrected this year, 1,100 of which were from before 2013.

    The owner of 139 BTC bought them in June 2011 for just over $2,250 and watched them grow to a staggering $3.5 million at Bitcoin’s current price mark. Last March, a truly ancient wallet appeared on the market – created in October 2010, when the price was just $0.19 – and sold 429 BTC.

    A year later, in February 2023, another Satoshi-era address moved 412 BTC worth $9.6 million more than a decade later. It’s hard to tell if these movements were related to the sale of coins or to personal custody, and given Bitcoin’s pseudonymous nature, we may never truly know who these ancient coins belonged to or what their owners did with them.

    Glassnode says holders unlikely to sell

    However, on-chain analytics provider Glassnode did offer some insight. According to the firm, dormant coins become increasingly unlikely to be sold after 155 days, although when these coins are sold they could signal a change in conviction.

    A recent newsletter from the company showed that the amount of Bitcoin held long-term is growing by 100,000 BTC per month. Despite the recent movement, many believe that much of Bitcoin’s ancient supply is gone forever.

    Only 356,000 of the 4.25 million coins have ever been spent, and the remaining coins are unlikely to be moved anytime soon. These coins may be locked in lost or forgotten wallets, or held by individuals waiting for the right time to sell them.

    It’s also worth noting that the Bitcoin network is built to be self-auditing, meaning it can detect when an address becomes inaccessible, permanently removing those lost coins from circulation. This helps ensure that the total supply of Bitcoin remains limited, with only 21 million coins ever existing.

    While the recent movement of ancient Bitcoin has caused a stir in the market, most of these coins have not been affected and are unlikely to change anytime soon. However, the growing number of long-term holders and the self-auditing nature of the network ensure that the total supply of Bitcoin remains limited and its value is high.