On July 28, 2024, Bitcoin was trading at $67,872 per coin when a dormant Bitcoin address, created in 2017, made headlines by transferring 121.63 BTC—now valued at $8.25 million—after remaining inactive for over seven years.
– Significant Bitcoin Transfer from Dormant Address –
This notable transaction was identified by btcparser.com, a Bitcoin blockchain parser, on Sunday, at block height 854,349. The address in question, a Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) legacy wallet, was initially created on April 9, 2017, when Bitcoin was priced at just $1,187 per unit. Since then, the value of these coins has skyrocketed by 5,617.94%, turning the original $144,374.81 worth of Bitcoin into over $8.25 million.
The Bitcoin in this wallet was originally received through two transactions: one for 71.63 BTC and another for 50 BTC. Interestingly, the funds were dispersed in the same manner—using two identical transactions—into multiple Bech32 or Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH) wallets, where they remain at the time of writing.
– 2017 Bitcoin Addresses Becoming Active –
While 2017 may not seem particularly vintage in the Bitcoin timeline, the seven-year period of dormancy adds to the intrigue of this transaction. Notably, July 2024 saw a flurry of activity from other 2017-era Bitcoin addresses, with around 15 different dormant addresses becoming active. Fourteen of these transfers involved 407.41 BTC, while the fifteenth was the aforementioned 121.63 BTC, bringing the total to 529.04 BTC moved during the month.
It’s worth noting that many Bitcoin addresses from 2017 were unprofitable towards the end of that year and during 2018-2019. Those who held onto their coins through the subsequent bear market and another bull run in 2021 appear to have chosen July 2024 as the time to move their funds. Whether these coins are being sold or simply transferred to new addresses remains uncertain, but the recent price surge past previous all-time highs likely played a role in prompting these dormant wallets to become active again.
