Awakening of a Bitcoin Giant: $30 Million in BTC Moved From Dormant Wallets After 6-Year Slumber
In 2023, multiple dormant bitcoin transactions caught the public’s attention and made headlines. Sunday night marks another significant event after a ‘sleeping bitcoin’ whale from 2017 stirred, spending an impressive 1,177.89 BTC — worth more than $30 million — from seven distinct bitcoin addresses, untouched for just over six years.
1,177 Bitcoin From 2017 Move for the First Time in Over 6 Years
As bitcoin (BTC) dances around the $26K mark, several once-dormant bitcoin wallets are springing to life after years of inactivity. On Sunday, during block heights 805,096 and 805,100, about seven distinct BTC addresses roused from a six-year hibernation. These addresses trace back to July 30 and 31, 2017; six emerged on July’s final day, while one originated on the 30th.
Btcparser.com flagged all seven transactions, with the first spend emerging from the address “1HjQx.” This once-silent wallet transacted 200 BTC, and in that same block, “1LBpE” mirrored the move, transferring another 200 BTC. Yet, the coin owner wasn’t finished. Five more transactions surfaced, confirming at block height 805,100. These encompassed addresses “16u25,” “1ByNy,” “1HXkT,” “1NZes,” and “1PftW.”
Among these transactions, five transfers echoed the 200 BTC pattern, one dispatched 100 BTC, while another parted with 77.89 BTC. Back on July 31, 2017, a single BTC traded at $2,875 a coin, pegging the owner’s haul at a cool $3.38 million when first secured. Fast forward six years, and that trove of bitcoins now boasts a value of $30.71 million, based on current BTC exchange metrics.
The 2017 transactions clinched a “moderate” 80-point rating on Blockchair’s privacy scale of 100. Both were marred by two notable vulnerabilities, particularly the “multiple occurrences of the same address in inputs.”
Instead of pooling the 1,177.89 BTC into one account, it was dispersed among 17 individual bitcoin addresses. The rationale for the owner’s decision to relocate $30 million in BTC after half a decade is clouded in mystery. Moreover, the spectacle of pioneering players shuffling hefty coin sums consistently leaves onlookers puzzled.
