Massive Bitcoin Transfer from Satoshi Era Shakes Crypto World

Eight Bitcoin wallets, dormant for over 14 years, transferred 80,000 BTC, valued at approximately $8.6 billion, on July 4, 2025, marking the largest movement of "Satoshi-era" Bitcoin ever recorded.

These coins, mined or transacted between 2009 and 2011 when Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto was active, are considered rare and closely watched by the crypto community for potential market signals.

The transfers began early Friday when two wallets, each holding 10,000 BTC since April 3, 2011, moved their funds to new addresses using modern, lower-fee SegWit formats. Eight hours later, six additional wallets, each also containing 10,000 BTC from May 4, 2011, followed suit.

At the time these wallets were funded, Bitcoin was worth just $0.78 to $3.25 per coin, meaning the initial investment was less than $210,000 for the entire stash, a staggering 14 million percent increase in value.

The identity of the wallet owner remains unknown, and the Bitcoin has not been moved further or deposited to exchanges, suggesting the owner may intend to continue holding.

Speculation abounds, with theories ranging from an early investor like Roger Ver to inheritance or even a coordinated effort to avoid market disruption.

A suspicious Bitcoin Cash (BCH) transaction of over 10,000 tokens (worth nearly $5 million) flagged by Coinbase director Conor Grogan hours before the transfers has raised questions about a possible private key test or leak.

Some even speculate about a quantum computing attack, though early Bitcoin addresses like these, using Pay-to-Public-Key (P2PK) formats, are only theoretically vulnerable if large-scale quantum hardware exists.

The timing and scale of these manual transfers have sparked intrigue, as such movements are rare and often interpreted as signals of shifting sentiment among Bitcoin’s earliest adopters.

The crypto community continues to monitor these wallets closely, with no further activity reported as of July 5, 2025.