On Saturday, on‑chain data showed that 600 Bitcoin (BTC) were moved from twelve long‑dormant addresses, marking the first activity for those coins in more than 16 years. At current prices the transfer is valued at roughly $48 million.
Whale Alert traced the coins to block rewards from twelve Bitcoin blocks mined in March 2010, each block providing a 50‑BTC subsidy. That subsidy has been halved four times, most recently in April 2024 when it fell to 3.125 BTC per block.
The tracking firm said none of the twelve blocks can be connected to Satoshi Nakamoto based on its research, tempering speculation about the coins’ origin. Whale Alert previously identified seven of the rewards and posted on X that those blocks were not mined by Nakamoto.
On‑chain analytics platform Lookonchain had earlier flagged seven miner wallets that moved 350 BTC after 16.5 years of inactivity, confirming the coins were earned through mining in March 2010.
The transfers attracted attention because the coins date to a period when Nakamoto was still actively involved in Bitcoin development and communications, which continued through 2010. The pseudonymous creator’s last known communication was in April 2011.
One address received a 50‑BTC mining reward on March 5 2010 and moved the coins to a new address on September 5 2026. Whale Alert noted that this reward moved several blocks before the others, a pattern consistent with a test transaction.
