A Satoshi-Era Bitcoin Whale Just Moved 2,000 BTC for the First Time Since 2010

The Bitcoin (BTC) wallet, which falls under the so-called “Satoshi-era wallets”, moved the BTC worth nearly $180 million to U.S.-based crypto exchange

A wallet that first received coins in the early years of Bitcoin has moved 2,000 BTC for the first time since 2010.

The Bitcoin (BTC) wallet, falling under the so-called “Satoshi-era wallets,” moved the BTC — now worth nearly $180 million — to U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase on Nov. 15.

On-chain data shows the whale hodled for 14 years, according to Lookonchain. That means the miner held on from when Bitcoin price hovered below 10 cents. Now, with rapid adoption, the coins mined when BTC creator Satoshi Nakamoto was still active online are worth nearly $90,000 per bitcoin.

Bitcoin has recently seen a spike in the movement of Satoshi-era coins, with their transfer to exchanges often a selling signal. However, such old coins have hit the market before — especially during bull markets — and the broader market usually shrugs it off.

In September, a wallet that remained dormant for over 15 years suddenly woke up and moved 250 BTC mined in 2009. Earlier, in Aug., a dormant Bitcoin wallet from 2014 moved 174 bitcoins, valued at over $10 million at the time.

One of the largest movements by a dormant whale address occurred in May 2024. A wallet that had remained inactive for 11 years suddenly moved 1,000 bitcoins, then valued at over $60 million.

While these figures pale in relation to the mega 2,000 BTC a whale from those early days just moved, they all illustrate what hodling means.

Whether by design or accident – millions of bitcoins are deemed forever lost – these Satoshi-era miner wallets also serve to highlight how far BTC has come. In the short term, such huge deposits on exchanges can impact the value of the benchmark crypto asset.

However, with bulls in charge and developments such as a likely U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve, analysts say the next target for BTC is $100k. In the long term, spot ETFs, a global “crypto race” that sees more nation states adopt the flagship digital asset, and plans such as MicroStrategy's $42 billion BTC purchase target all bode well for BTC.