After more than 11 years of inactivity, a dormant Bitcoin address with $31 million worth of BTC recently came to life. The address is on July 22, 2023 transferred the full balance to a new address.
Early BTC address comes back to life
Bitcoin has been around since 2009, so there are dormant addresses that have been dormant for years and hold large amounts of BTC. Some of the early adopters of this cryptocurrency were able to buy in very cheaply, but the private keys of many of these addresses have been lost, locking them down forever. Occasionally, however, some of these addresses suddenly come back to life as the owner picks up the funds again.
The address here was one of the first Bitcoin addresses. According to on-chain data, it received its first transaction of 1,037 BTC in November 2012. At the time, the price of each BTC sold for just $12.41. It then regularly received small deposits of BTC over the years. With Bitcoin’s price now at $29,828, the total price comes in at just over $31 million.
💤 💤 💤 💤 A dormant address with 1,037 #BTC (USD 31,080,234) has just been activated after 11.3 years!https://t.co/6cW9vnTOhD
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 22, 2023
There are a few possibilities for what could have prompted the owner to suddenly move this money after all this time, ranging from regaining control of the private keys to cashing out and taking profits. Whatever the reason, the sudden awakening of dormant Bitcoin addresses has the potential to cause a stir and spark interest in the Bitcoin community.
BTC price remains below $30,000 | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
Implications for the price of Bitcoin
When a large amount of BTC suddenly moves, it can cause temporary price fluctuations. An immediate asset sell-off could lead to a fall in Bitcoin’s market price. However, these effects are often short-lived. In the long run, an increase in circulating supply is unlikely to significantly impact Bitcoin’s price due to its rapid adoption.
Dormant BTC addresses have also gained momentum this year. In May, a similar address with 1,000 BTC that had been dormant for over 11 years moved 400 BTC to a new wallet. In February, a BTC address that had been dormant for 11 years came back to life to move $9.6 million worth of BTC.
These examples show that even if an address has been inactive for a long time, there is always a possibility that the funds will move again. However, many of these addresses seem to be lost forever. According to to IntoTheBlock, approximately 29% of the total Bitcoin circulating supply is now believed to be lost forever after standing still for more than five years.
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com