Historic Bitcoin Wallet Reactivated After 15 Years of Inactivity – Million-Dollar Values in Motion

Rare Transaction from Bitcoin's Early Phase

A Bitcoin wallet that has been completely inactive since March 2010 showed signs of life on Monday. The address transferred approximately 50 BTC to five new addresses of ten BTC each – at the time of transaction, this corresponded to a value of about 4.33 million US dollars ^[1].

The wallet with the address 17uEQxSfy76bkuq2f3UTU2EGHoM6N3j9Pa belongs to the so-called Satoshi era, a term for addresses that were active in 2009 and 2010 ^[1]. At that time, the cryptocurrency was used exclusively by a small group of developers and community members.

Coins from the Era of High Block Rewards

The coins now moved originate from the block reward of the early phase, which at that time amounted to 50 BTC ^[1]. By comparison, the current block subsidy stands at merely 3.125 BTC. Transactions from addresses of this epoch are extremely rare, as it is estimated that only a few hundred wallets with significant historical holdings exist that have not been moved again to this day ^[1].

The exact reasons for such reactivations cannot be determined from blockchain data. In industry circles, the movement of such historical holdings has been closely monitored for years, as larger wallets from the early days are considered among the oldest known investors ^[1].

Satoshi Nakamoto Leads Crypto Wealth Ranking

Fitting with the reactivation of the historic wallet, on-chain analysis platform Arkham Intelligence has published a ranking of the ten wealthiest crypto holders ^[2]. Unsurprisingly, Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto tops the list with approximately 1.1 million BTC, distributed across tens of thousands of addresses – a fortune of about 115 billion US dollars ^[2].

The ranking only considers wealth that can be clearly attributed to specific individuals on the blockchain. Coins in exchange collection wallets, off-chain assets such as company shares or OTC deals, and unclear attributions are excluded ^[2].

Further positions include Tron founder Justin Sun with 1.9 billion US dollars, Estonian banker Rain Lohmus with 886 million US dollars, and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin with 867 million US dollars ^[2].

Billions in Unreachable Wallets

Particularly striking: A substantial portion of the listed wealth is no longer accessible ^[2]. The most prominent example is Welsh native James Howells, who mined approximately 8,000 BTC in 2010, whose private keys are now on a lost hard drive – a fortune of about 838 million US dollars ^[2].

Similarly situated is German-born developer Stefan Thomas, who received 7,002 BTC for an early Bitcoin explainer video but forgot the password to his encrypted wallet – currently valued at approximately 734 million US dollars ^[2].

Market Implications

For the market, these lost coins mean that the actually available circulating supply of Bitcoin is lower than pure on-chain circulation would suggest ^[2]. This supports the long-term scarcity narrative of the cryptocurrency and can be interpreted as a bullish factor. For those affected, however, it represents a personal tragedy – billions on paper, but no access ^[2].