Bitcoin Owner Turns $324 Stack Into $8 Million After Nearly 15 Years

Key Takeaways

• Two old bitcoin holders woke up Saturday, moving 200 BTC worth more than $16 million combined.
• Bitcoin’s 2011 holder watched roughly $324 grow into $8 million, a paper gain topping 2.46 million%.
• Bitgo received the 2013 miner’s 100 BTC, but whether those coins are headed for sale remains unknown.

Bitcoin From 2011 and 2013 Suddenly Stirs

September has logged a slew of unique sleeping bitcoin wallets from ancient days, and Sept. 19 was no different. Before the 2011 wallet, a distinct group of four legacy Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) wallets shifted 25 BTC each. All four transfers were confirmed at block height 967722.

All the wallets were either first created in February or March 2013. Bitcoin prices were all over the place during those two months, and the Cyprus banking crisis reached its absolute peak in March. On March 1, bitcoin traded for $32 per coin, and by the 31st of that same month in 2013, it was trading for $91.95. Market data shows that these four P2PKH addresses paid very little for the 100 BTC.

Then, ten blocks later, at block 967732, an even older wallet moved 100 BTC from an address born on Nov. 2, 2011. This was a single transaction, and the 100 BTC worth $8 million moved from a P2PKH address to a newer Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH) wallet. The day these so-called sleepers were first acquired, bitcoin’s price was $3.24 per unit.