Bitcoin Wallets Dormant for Over a Decade Move $40M in One Week

In brief

• Galaxy Research tracked six Bitcoin wallets dormant since 2011, 2012, and 2014 moving coins over a 10-day stretch this month, worth a combined $40.15 million.
• Two of the six carry "Salomon Client Dusted" tags tied to Noah Doe, the pseudonymous plaintiff suing to claim 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses in New York court.
• The oldest coins in the batch were bought for pocket change in mid-2011 and are up more than 800,000% on the initial purchase.

Somewhere out there, six people may have just remembered they own Bitcoin, or cracked open an old hard drive, or got their prayers heard and recovered an old key.

It isn’t clear what the case may be, but Galaxy Research has been keeping count: Six Bitcoin wallets dormant since 2011, 2012, and 2014 moved a combined 553.59 BTC between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26, worth a combined $40.15 million.

It’s a rare thing for 2011 through 2014-era holders to keep control of their original coins, which is why on-chain sleuths jump on every one that stirs

The first wallet, which woke up on Aug. 16, held just 8.54 BTC that had sat completely still since June 13, 2011—15.1 years ago—before moving in block 962,770 at 18:42 UTC. The coins cost about $14 apiece to acquire back then, and were worth $538,000 when they finally moved—a 461,981% gain.