An unidentified Bitcoiner mysteriously sent an unusually large sum of 27 BTC — worth roughly $1.2 million — to a wallet address belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto, the alpha cryptocurrency’s enigmatic creator.
Now, many in the cryptoverse are pondering: Who conducted the transaction, and why?
$1.2M Sent From Binance To The Bitcoin Genesis Wallet
Coinbase director Conor Grogan first brought attention to the activity, where an unidentified wallet sent 26.92 BTC, worth around $1.2 million, to the Bitcoin “Genesis” wallet that stores the 50 BTC block reward for the first-ever BTC block mined on Jan. 3, 2009. The BTC sent by the wallet was withdrawn from crypto exchange Binance before the transaction was authorized on Jan. 5, 2024.
The address that received the massive payout is regarded as Satoshi’s personal wallet, which has been dormant since 2011. The wallet now holds approximately 100 BTC worth $4.5 million after Friday’s transaction.
Crypto enthusiasts from time to time, send minuscule BTC to the Genesis wallet as a tribute to the ever-elusive Satoshi. The address, for instance, received as many as 15 separate payouts on Monday. It’s worth mentioning that the mammoth $1.2 million payment came just two days after the 15th anniversary of Bitcoin’s Genesis block.
But the eye-watering million-dollar Friday payment prompted a mix of theories from industry observers about who could have been behind it.
Satoshi Making A Comeback In 2024 Or $1.2M Lost?
Coinbase’s Grogan wondered whether Satoshi “woke up” and moved the Bitcoin from Binance or someone permanently destroyed a million dollars.
“Either Satoshi woke up, bought 27 bitcoin from Binance, and deposited [it] into their wallet, or someone just burned a million dollars,” he said.
Some observers floated that the transaction could have been a mistake, or based on the timing, related to marketing efforts by one U.S. asset manager seeking to garner the most attention in the electrifying race toward a spot Bitcoin ETF.
It’s unknown how the $1.2 million transaction would be a useful advertisement for a Bitcoin ETF would-be provider beyond fueling conjectures around the true identity of Satoshi after years of radio silence and just when the cryptocurrency is on the brink of mainstream adoption.
Prominent lawyer Jeremy Hogan theorized that the million-dollar payment might be leveraging the new crypto tax law in an attempt to force Satoshi to reveal his identity. Starting from Jan. 1, recipients of crypto payments worth over $10,000 in the U.S. are required to report those transactions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or else face prison time.
“The only thing that makes any sense is that the sender is flushing Satoshi out,” Hogan postulated in a post on X. “Satoshi has to dox himself, or break the law.”
Some, however, noted that this would only be practical if Nakamoto were subject to United States tax laws.
The true motive for sending over a million dollars worth of BTC to the Genesis wallet is still a complete mystery at press time.