Twelve dormant Bitcoin addresses holding a combined 600 BTC moved their coins on Saturday after remaining inactive for more than 16 years. The movement reignited speculation about a potential connection to Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, though blockchain analysis indicates no such link exists.
The 600 BTC, worth approximately $48 million at the time of transfer, originated from mining rewards earned across 12 Bitcoin blocks in March 2010, when each block subsidy was worth 50 BTC. Whale Alert, a blockchain transaction tracking platform, traced all 12 rewards to blocks mined during this period and determined through research that none could be connected to Nakamoto.
"None of the blocks can be connected to Satoshi based on our research," a Whale Alert spokesperson told Cointelegraph, noting that the attention surrounding the transfer stemmed from the timing of the coins' creation during an era when Nakamoto was still actively involved with Bitcoin development.
Nakamoto remained engaged in Bitcoin's development and communications throughout 2010 before gradually withdrawing from the project. Their last known communication dates to April 2011.
Onchain analytics platform Lookonchain had initially identified seven of the miner wallets, which moved 350 BTC after approximately 16.5 years of inactivity. Whale Alert's expanded analysis covered all 12 addresses involved in the movement.
One transfer pattern stood out: one of the 12 addresses moved its 50 BTC reward several blocks before the remaining transfers occurred. Whale Alert interpreted this staggered timing as consistent with a test transaction preceding the broader fund movements.
The block subsidy from Bitcoin's 2010 mining era has been substantially reduced over time. Since March 2010, the reward has been halved four times, most recently in April 2024, when it decreased from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block.
