After more than 11 years of inactivity, a dormant Bitcoin address containing $31 million in BTC suddenly came to life recently. On July 22, 2023, address transferred his entire balance to a new address.
The 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 very cheaply, but the private keys of many of these addresses have been lost, locking them up forever. However, occasionally, some of these addresses suddenly come back to life after the owner recovers the funds.
The address here was one of the earliest Bitcoin addresses. According to on-chain records, it received its first transaction of 1,037 BTC in November 2012. At the time, the price of each BTC was selling for just $12.41. Then received small regular deposits of BTC over the years. With the price of Bitcoin now at $29,828, this puts the total price at just over $31 million.
💤 💤 💤 💤 A dormant address containing 1037 #BTC ($31,080,234) just activated after 11.3 years!https://t.co/6cW9vnTOhD
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 22, 2023
There are several possibilities for what might 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 Bitcoin Price
When a large amount of BTC moves suddenly, it can cause temporary price fluctuations. An immediate sale of assets can lead to a drop in the market price of Bitcoin. However, these effects are often short-lived. In the long term, an increase in the circulating supply is unlikely to significantly affect the price of Bitcoin due to the rapid rate of adoption.
Dormant BTC addresses have also appeared in a storm this year. In May, a similar address containing 1,000 BTC that had been 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.
These examples show that even if an address has been dormant for a long time, there is always the possibility of funds moving again. However, many of these addresses seem to have been lost forever. According to on IntoTheBlock, about 29% of the total circulating supply of Bitcoin is now assumed to be lost forever after remaining stagnant for over five years.S
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
