For the past seven days, bitcoin price remained above the $16,000 region after FTX collapse. Since then, a number of “sleeping bitcoins” that have been idle for five to nine years have moved over the past four days. Bitcoins, which were worth far less then, are being transferred for the first time in years.
$20 million worth of old bitcoin is moving after sitting dormant for years
Bitcoin (BTC) price has remained stable for the past seven days, ranging between $16,150 and $16,995 per unit and a brief bounce above the $17,000 zone. While BTC prices have been much lower over the past four days than they were in early November, hundreds of legacy bitcoins have been on the move.
For example, on November 29, 2022, two owners spent 348 Bitcoin, and the stash was once worth $348,000. We can’t really tell if the transferred coins were sold or not, but they were issued from addresses created almost six years ago. Heuristics also suggest that of the 348 bitcoins that have been dormant since March 2017, 299 of those BTC likely belonged to the same owner.
The five issues of 59.99 BTC discovered by btcparser.com all came from the same owner.
The 348 BTC are worth about $5.8 million in nominal terms using current BTC exchange rates. One owner controlled “17HxA,” an address created on March 29, 2017, and spent 48.88 BTC at block height 765,168. Coincidentally, five more transactions from addresses created in late March 2017 spent 59.99 BTC in each transaction at block heights 765,169, 765,184, 765,185, 765,187, and 765,190.
On the same day, btcparser.com blockchain parsers captured 173.61 BTC outputs from an inactive address created on June 14, 2017, and another 100 BTC outputs from an address created on April 12, 2014. The 100 Bitcoin sat in an inactive address for almost nine years, and at that time each BTC was worth less than $500 per unit.
According to these old spends, a transaction from an address first seen on April 26, 2013 nearly ten years ago surpassed all spends made on November 29, 2022. The transaction took place on December 2, 2022, and the “1EaAv” wallet issued 600 so-called “sleeping bitcoins”. The 600 BTC was worth about $84,000 on April 26, 2013, and today, using current BTC exchange rates, the coins issued at block height 765,644 are worth about $10.14 million.
The data shows that of all bitcoins issued since November 29 that have been dormant for approximately five to nine years, all together were worth less than $800,000 when the original addresses were created. Using today’s exchange rates, the 1,221.45 BTC that came from “sleeping Bitcoin” addresses equates to around $20 million. Old holders are moving bitcoins that have been dormant for five to nine years, while current bitcoin prices are at their lowest levels in two years.
tags in this story
$20 million, $800,000, 1221.45 BTC, 2013, 2014, 2017, 600 dormant bitcoins, old BTC, bitcoin, bitcoin (BTC), blockchain, blockchain parser, BTC, Btcparser.com, dormant addresses, unused addresses, old BTC, onchain, onchain results, parser, sleeping bitcoins
What do you think of the so-called “sleeping bitcoin” addresses that have spent around $20 million in bitcoin over the past few days? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comment section below.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman is the news director at Bitcoin.com News and a Florida-based financial technology journalist. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for bitcoin, open source code and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about today’s emerging disruptive protocols.
Photo credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any product, service, or company. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
