In brief

  • 1,000 Bitcoin has just moved for the first time since 2010.
  • The Bitcoin—worth over $11 million—would have been mined when Satoshi Nakamoto was still active in the crypto community.
  • It is unclear who owns the Bitcoin or why it was moved.

Someone moved over $11 million worth of Bitcoin that has sat idle in wallets since it was mined in 2010. 

The 1,000 Bitcoin—today worth $11,425,000—moved to one address. The move was flagged by Kirill K, a professional cryptocurrency trader, on LinkedIn. 

The Bitcoin was mined back in September 2010, when Bitcoin was less than two years old and worth less than 10 cents per coin. Back then, the cryptocurrency was virtually unheard of and very cheap to mine—all the Bitcoin moved today was worth less than $100 in 2010. 

The mysterious holder of the “Satoshi era” coins would make an insane lottery-like profit if they sold the coins today.  

“Satoshi era” Bitcoin refers to coins mined when Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still communicating with the crypto world. Nobody's heard from Nakamoto since 2010 and his identity is still a complete mystery. Some believe—perhaps falsely—that whoever moved the coins must have been part of Nakamoto's inner circle. 

Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto's identity remains a mystery. Image: Shutterstock

Half a Million in Satoshi-era Bitcoin Just Moved to Bitfinex

Someone just moved 50 Satoshi-era Bitcoins, today worth $527,120, to the hot wallet of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.  The 50 Bitcoin was mined back in May 2010, when Bitcoin was around one-and-a-half years old. The owner has held onto those coins ever since and waited until last night to move them to the cryptocurrency exchange. The move was picked up by BTCparser, a Telegram bot that trawls through Bitcoin transactions.  If the owner of those 50 Bitcoins sold the entire stash on Bitfinex, t...

NewsCoins
3 min read
Robert Stevens

But why would someone move this Bitcoin now? Head of quant strategy at crypto firm Ikigai Asset Management, Hans Hauge, wrote on LinkedIn that “old miners have to be careful about how they move so as to not spook the market.” 

But he added that $11 million wouldn’t really “move the needle much in either direction” when billions of Bitcoin shuffle around wallets each day. 

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.

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