According to Whale Alert, a dormant Bitcoin address dating back to Bitcoin’s earliest days has been reactivated, resulting in an enormous gain of 169,358,650%.
This address, which contains 50 BTC and is currently worth almost $3,387,175, was activated after being dormant for 14.3 years. Back in 2010, these 50 BTC were worth only $2.
Whale Alert reports that a dormant address containing 50 BTC worth $3,387,175 has just been activated after 14.3 years (worth 2 USD in 2010).
💤 A dormant address containing 50 #BTC (3,387,175 USD) has just been activated after 14.3 years (worth 2 USD in 2010)!https://t.co/HWGBYNbQWd
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) October 25, 2024
The wallet in question dates back to the “Satoshi era,” which is called after the period in which Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still active in the crypto community.
The whale’s identity remains unknown, sparking speculation about their intentions after holding onto the BTC stash for so long.
On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain indicates that the wallet most likely belonged to an early miner, who earned 50 BTC through a block reward on July 13, 2010. Lookonchain indicated this in a recent tweet: “A miner wallet woke up after being dormant for over 14 years and transferred 50 BTC ($3.05 million) out 2 hours ago. The miner earned 50 BTC from mining on Jul 13, 2010.”
The exact reason for the activation remains unknown, but the whale might have decided to cash in on the massive gains, given Bitcoin’s astronomical rise in over 14 years, or maybe the miner just rediscovered the keys to the wallet.
Bitcoin price action
Cryptocurrencies surged on Thursday, reversing a modest drop that began with Bitcoin’s (BTC) failed bid to reclaim $70,000 early on Monday. Most of these gains had been swapped, with Bitcoin only up 1% in the last 24 hours to $67,508.
On the macroeconomic front, traders have been watching a spate of Federal Reserve members’ comments this week on September’s huge 50-basis-point interest rate decrease and the probable road ahead.
According to CME’s FedWatch tool, market pricing gives the Fed a 97% chance of reducing rates by 25 basis points in November.