Long-Dormant ‘Sleeping Bitcoins’ Worth $35 Million Spring to Life on January’s Final Day

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On Jan. 31, 2024, a notable movement of so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins’ occurred, involving wallets from 2013 and 2016 which collectively transferred 845.06 bitcoins valued at approximately $35.96 million. Originating from a handful of distinct addresses, 726 bitcoins were likely the property of a single entity, considering the patterns observed.

$35 Million in Long-Dormant Bitcoins Make a Sudden Move

At precisely block height 828,276, which occurred on Wednesday afternoon, an unidentified party initiated the movement of 118.93 BTC, marking its first transaction in a span exceeding a decade and two months. The wallet, identified as “1PUeG” by the blockchain parser web portal btcparser.com, intriguingly left the corresponding 118.93 bitcoin cash (BCH) untouched.

This transaction garnered a modest “low” rating of 45 out of 100 on Blockchair’s Privacy-o-meter, a result of the repeated use of the same address in the inputs. The entirety of the funds was transferred to a new address, employing the ‘send everything’ option. While this 2013 wallet’s activity was noteworthy, an even more compelling series of transactions originated from nine wallets created in 2016, which moved a sum of 726.13 BTC.

These nine wallets, all established on March 30, 2016, remained inactive for nearly eight years, holding the bitcoins which were then valued at merely $301K, based on the BTC price of $414.82 at the time. Fast forward to the present, their value rose to an impressive $30.90 million at current exchange rates.

Each of these nine transactions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) involved slightly over 80 BTC, with the associated BCH similarly left unspent. In terms of privacy, most of these 2016 transactions exhibited a higher degree of discretion, achieving a “moderate” score of 55 out of 100 on the Privacy-o-meter. Like the earlier case, this owner also opted for the ‘send everything’ approach.

Sleeping bitcoins, particularly those from earlier periods, are a rarity in the crypto space. Over 64,000 addresses still lay dormant between 2009 and July 2017. While the awakening of the 2013 wallet was significant, the simultaneous movement of the nine wallets from 2016 was even more interesting, strongly suggesting a single owner’s involvement. Despite this, the identity behind the series of 80 BTC transactions and the owner remains shrouded in mystery.

What do you think about the sleeping bitcoins that moved on Wednesday? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.