Bitcoin Wallet Untouched for 15 Years Suddenly Springs to Life

In brief

• A Bitcoin wallet holding 8.54 BTC, first funded on June 13, 2011, moved its coins for the first time in 15 years on Aug. 16.
• The position is now worth about $538,000 for a roughly 461,981% gain if sold.
• It follows a trend of ancient Bitcoin wallets suddenly coming to life.

A Bitcoin stash that had sat frozen since the network's earliest days has moved for the first time in more than 15 years, the latest in a string of ancient wallets flickering back to life.

According to Galaxy Research's blockchain monitoring, a Bitcoin address beginning in “1Emi” holding 8.54 BTC first received the coins on June 13, 2011, when Bitcoin traded around $14, and then went silent for 15.1 years.

The balance, now worth roughly $538,000, was swept out on Aug. 16 in a single transaction recorded in block 962,770. At an average cost basis near $14, the position represents a gain of about 461,981%.

Movements like this draw outsized attention because so few holders from Bitcoin's infancy still control their coins, or their private keys, after this long. In 2011, Bitcoin was a thinly traded curiosity worth pocket change, not a trillion-dollar asset.

Wallets that have stayed untouched since then are widely presumed lost, so when one stirs, analysts and traders take notice, watching for signs that an early adopter may be preparing to cash in.