Ancient Bitcoin wallet awakened from Satoshi era

An old Bitcoin whale from the Satoshi era suddenly resurfaces. The fact that he is moving BTC worth millions is causing a stir.

An inactive Bitcoin wallet has unexpectedly become active again after 11 years. It dates back to Bitcoin's early days, when pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto himself was still writing on online forums and BTC mining with gaming laptops was rewarding.

According to the blockchain tracker Whale Alert, which monitors major crypto movements, this antique Bitcoin whale owns at least 146 BTC, with a current value of more than $8.1 million. During the last activity, the coins were worth only $80,257.

The year 2013 was extremely volatile for the Bitcoin price. At the beginning of the year, Bitcoin traded for just $13, but in April the value suddenly rose to $266, then quickly dropped again to $50 per coin.

The movement of Bitcoins from very old wallets regularly creates excitement in the crypto community. There is speculation that some of these are linked to Satoshi himself - ultimately, the BTC inventor is believed to own more than 1.1 million Bitcoin.

That the unknown whale was able to move his coins for just $1.91 despite the huge fiat value underscores the still low transaction costs.

In recent years, several wallets from the Satoshi era have been reactivated. Often, however, their BTC balance was only transferred to a new address.

According to a report 1.75 million Bitcoin wallets have been inactive for more than a decade. In total, they hold 1,798,681 BTC, with a current value of about $99.9 billion.

Traditionally, one speaks of a Bitcoin whale when a wallet contains at least 1,000 BTC. However, due to the huge price increases in recent years, wallets with as little as 100 BTC are often popularly considered a "whale."