After over 11 years of inactivity, a dormant Bitcoin address containing $31 million in BTC suddenly came to life recently. On July 22, 2023, the address transferred its entire 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 inactive for years that contain large amounts of BTC. Some of the early adopters of this cryptocurrency were able to buy in very cheap but the private keys to many of these addresses have been lost, locking them forever. Every now and then, however, some of these addresses suddenly come back to life as the owner regains asses to the funds.
The address here was one of the earliest 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 only $12.41. It then received regular small deposits of BTC over the years. With the price of Bitcoin now at $29,828, this sets the total price at just over $31 million.
💤 💤 💤 💤 A dormant address containing 1,037 #BTC (31,080,234 USD) 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 these funds after all this time, ranging from regaining control of the private keys to cashing out and taking a profit. Whatever the reason, the sudden reawakening 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 selloff of the assets can lead to a drop in the market price of Bitcoin. However, these effects are often short-lived. Over the long run, an increase in circulating supply is unlikely to significantly impact Bitcoin’s price due to the rapid rate of adoption.
Dormant BTC addresses have also been showing up in a flurry this year. Back in May, a similar address containing 1,000 BTC that was dormant for more than 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.Â
These examples show that even if an address has been dormant for a long time, there is always a possibility of the funds moving again. However, many of these addresses seem to be lost forever. According to IntoTheBlock, around 29% of the total Bitcoin circulating supply is now presumed lost forever after remaining stagnant for over five years.S
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
Scott Matherson
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