Satoshi era wallets have once again attracted market attention: seven old addresses, which had been inactive for 16.5 years, sent a total of 350 bitcoins worth about $28 million.
Seven Addresses Sent Identical Amounts
Exactly 50 bitcoins left each wallet. That was the reward miners received for finding a block on the Bitcoin network during that period. Such symmetry makes the movement especially noticeable for observers of the early history of the first cryptocurrency.
The coins were mined in March 2010, a little more than a year after the blockchain launched. At a price of about $79,850 per bitcoin, each such batch is valued at nearly $4 million.
Why the Market Watches Old Coins
The very fact of a transfer does not necessarily mean the owners are preparing to sell the asset. Market pressure is usually discussed when such funds are sent to cryptocurrency exchanges or other platforms where they can be quickly exchanged for liquidity.
Unlike a bank transaction, movement on the blockchain is visible publicly, so old transfers quickly become the subject of analysts’ attention. This is especially true if the coins are related to the early period of the network and the time of Satoshi Nakamoto.
For the market, the age of the coins is not as important as their next step: if old bitcoins go to exchanges, participants begin to expect possible price pressure.
Who Is Satoshi Nakamoto
Satoshi Nakamoto is the name or pseudonym of the creator of Bitcoin. He is associated with the launch of the network in 2009 and early mining, when the block reward was 50 BTC. By popular estimate, up to 1.1 million BTC are linked to Satoshi’s early coins, but these assets have barely moved for decades.
It is important not to confuse Satoshi Nakamoto and satoshi as a unit of measurement. There are 100,000,000 satoshis in 1 bitcoin, and 1 satoshi equals 0.00000001 BTC.
How Old Addresses Are Checked
The most famous address associated with the network’s launch is the genesis block address: 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa. Any address can be checked through a blockchain explorer: just paste the address or transaction hash into the search and view incoming and outgoing transfers, block dates, and the current balance.
Researchers link early coins to Satoshi not by a single characteristic, but by a set of coincidences: block mining times, coinbase transaction structure, nonce features, and the so-called Patoshi pattern. Therefore, the phrase “Satoshi era wallets” usually means the early period of the network, not direct proof that Satoshi Nakamoto himself owned the coins.
Similar episodes have already occurred: in May 2020, a block reward of 50 BTC mined in February 2009 was moved. In December 2023, analysts’ attention was drawn to the transfer of about 1,000 BTC from 2010 batches.
Wallet of Satoshi and Wallet Security
Wallet of Satoshi is not related to Satoshi era wallets: it is a custodial mobile wallet for the Lightning Network. It is used for fast payments: install the app, get an invoice or QR code, top up the balance, and send a payment to another user.
The main types of crypto wallets are custodial and non-custodial, hot and cold, software and hardware. Wallet of Satoshi is convenient for small amounts, but it is custodial: the service stores the keys, so for large savings, non-custodial or hardware wallets are more often chosen.
The risk of losing keys remains one of the main problems for old wallets. The most famous case with 8,000 bitcoins is associated with James Howells: in 2013, he accidentally threw away a hard drive with the keys, and the device ended up in a landfill in Newport.
Context for the Bitcoin Price
Against the backdrop of the recent market recovery, Bitcoin remains well above key moving averages. However, momentum has weakened slightly after attempts to hold above the $81,000 level.
The volume of 350 bitcoins is small compared to typical daily trading. But for blockchain history, this is a rare episode: coins that have lain dormant for more than 16 years do not move often.
Two terms help quickly understand the market’s reaction:
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- Liquidity: shows how quickly an asset can be sold at a price close to the market price. The higher the liquidity of a cryptocurrency, the easier it is to make large transactions without sharp price swings.
- Moving average: smooths out price fluctuations over a selected period and helps to understand the overall market direction: whether it is rising or falling.
