About 100 bitcoins, mined in July 2010, were transferred on Wednesday after lying dormant for over 16 years. Calculated at current market prices, their value has risen from around $6 to approximately $8.5 million.
These coins directly come from two mining rewards and are products of Bitcoin's "Satoshi Nakamoto era," but their age does not necessarily prove that they are related to Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin.
This transaction sent 10 bitcoins to one address and approximately 90.02 bitcoins to another address, but public records do not show who controls these coins, nor is it clear whether they will be sold.
Approximately 100 Bitcoins BTC were mined at a time when they were traded for just a few cents each. Later on Wednesday, after being dormant for over 16 years, they were transferred, and at current prices, they are valued at around 8.5 million US dollars.
According to the review of Bitcoin transactions by CoinDesk, these 100.02 BTC entered an address on July 30, 2010, and remained there until a transaction confirmed at 18:52 on Wednesday by UTC. The Galaxy Digital's Cryptocurrency Financial Services Research Department Galaxy Research was the first to mark this transfer on X.
According to the data provided by StatMuse, a source of historical price data, Bitcoin was valued at approximately 6 cents when these coins were received at that address. Therefore, the market value of these coins at that time was about 6 dollars. This comparison describes their appreciation rate, rather than how much the holder paid for them or whether they made a profit by selling them.
The reason for the attention paid to positions that have not been touched for a long time is that coins that have not been traded for many years may now become available for sale again. Some coins may be considered lost because no one has used them for years. A successful transfer indicates that there are still people who can access these coins – although public records do not show whether this person is the original holder or whether they intend to cash out.
There are precedents for larger-scale positions entering the market as well. Galaxy confirmed in July 2025 that, as part of an estate planning strategy, they sold over 80,000 BTC to an early investor. On Wednesday, the scale of this transfer was much smaller, and the relevant records do not indicate that it was a sale.
Old coins, active addresses
This reminder has raised questions online, as this address had spent other bitcoins between 2011 and 2018.
Bitcoin records keep each incoming payment separately, so a wallet can spend one payment while leaving another untouched. These unspent payments are referred to as UTXO. As a result, an address can remain active, even though some of the funds within it have not been moved for many years, just as is the case here.
In August 2015, 200 units of BTC were spent through two transactions at this address. In December 2017, another 100 units of BTC were expended, and in March 2018, 249 units of BTC were used. The single payment of 100.02 units of BTC in July 2010 was not utilized during the entire period.
Galaxy Research said on X: “This address was somewhat active in the past, but these specific coins haven’t been moved since 2010. We are tracking these coins.”
CoinDesk traced this payment directly back to two mining rewards created in July 2010; one was 50 BTC, and the other was 50.02 BTC, which included transaction fees. At that time, computers participating in the competition and adding transactions to the Bitcoin network—miners—could receive 50 newly minted coins for each block.
These coins belong to the “Satoshi Nakamoto era,” during which Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still active. However, their age does not necessarily prove any connection to Satoshi Nakamoto himself.
On Wednesday, the trades combined this old position with six smaller subsequent deposits, and 10 BTC were sent to one address, while approximately 90.02 BTC were sent to another address. By Thursday morning during the verification, these two positions had still not been spent. CoinDesk
For further reading:A Bitcoin wallet that had been idle for 10 years transferred coins worth $40 million.
