Key Takeaways
- Over 80,000 BTC dormant for 14 years were moved, worth $8.7 billion at current prices.
- Analysts attribute the transfers to address upgrades, with no signs of selling or mixing activity.
- Security concerns prompted the move from legacy wallet.dat addresses to modern bech32 formats.
More than 80,000 BTC, worth over $8.7 billion, were transferred last Friday after 14 years of inactivity, igniting speculation about the owner’s identity and motives.
According to onchain analytics platform Arkham, the movement likely stems from address upgrades, with no evidence suggesting the bitcoin is being sold.
10,000 BTC wallets
Two wallets, each holding 10,000 BTC since April 2011—when their combined value was just $15,600—were the first to move.
Over the 14-year period, each 10,000 BTC stash has appreciated by nearly 14 million percent, reaching close to $1.1 billion in current value.
Analysis from Lookonchain indicated that the same entity may control these addresses, plus six others that also received about 10,000 BTC each in May 2011. These six wallets transferred their balances on the same day, suggesting coordinated action.
Speculation about the owner
Speculation around the owner ranged from Roger Ver, the CIA, to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Coinbase’s Director of Product Strategy noted the bitcoin originated from a single miner with an address once containing 200,000 BTC.
He also mentioned a small chance of compromised private keys, citing a Bitcoin Cash test transaction from one cluster.
Address upgrades and security implications
The funds have not moved again, and there is no sign of mixing or suspicious activity.
Arkham reported most coins moved from legacy to bech32 addresses, possibly for enhanced security.
Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet commented:
“This suggests the keys were stored in a wallet.dat file, and the transaction was likely signed using a software wallet like Electrum. From a security standpoint, this is absolutely insane!”
Legacy wallet.dat addresses are less secure, relying on outdated key generation methods.
Modern wallets feature improved security with hierarchical deterministic key derivation and newer formats like SegWit and Taproot.
Despite this, one transfer used another legacy address, leaving the precise rationale and owner uncertain.
For more on bitcoin address types and technical details, the bitcoin whitepaper provides foundational information.
