$800M BTC Wallet Reactivates: Tens of Millions to Exchanges

Speculation has been swirling around a BTC wallet held dormant for over four years that is suddenly showing movement. That it contains something on the order of nearly one billion dollars worth of bitcoin core (BTC) has the ecosystem in both investigative mode and panic, as it could signal a giant dump at the very time the broader market appears to be recovering.

Also read: Square’s Big Week: Crypto Patent, Shares Leap, and Lightning Plug

$800 Million BTC Wallet Moves After Over 4 Years

“The original wallet owned 111,114.62 $BTC / $BCH , which is currently valuated ~ $844M (without taking in account other #Bitcoin forks),” reads the beginning of a crypto saga posted over three days. “Last movements on these subwallets are 4 years and 5 months old (March 9th, 2014). The chunks have been divided over time to 60,000 coins then to 30,000 / 20,000 / 10,000 / 5,000 / 500 and now 100 coins.”

Simply delicious imaginings by Reddit poster sick_silk touch upon all the hot button, notorious BTC bagholders of yore: could it be Satoshi Nakamoto herself, back to take profits? How about the real Dread Pirate Roberts of Silk Road fame, busting an old stash open now that coasts have cleared? Or is it those dastardly Mt. Gox sorts, out to cash their lucre?

Theories abound as to just who or what moved bitcoin core from a four-year dormant virtual wallet containing more than 111,000 BTC, a value of right around $800 million at current prices. The movement was indeed uncovered by sub-reddit user sick_silk, and in a series of posts, attempts are made by both the poster and commentators to divine the wallet’s owner and motive(s).

Dread Pirate Roberts, Satoshi, Gox

The wallet’s creation dates back to just before summer of 2014, and is now active or moving, and funds are heading to at least two exchanges. Over 11k BTC, about $80 million, made its way from the mysterious wallet to Bitfinex. A cool $32 million found its way to Binance.

By themselves, they’re not earth-shattering amounts. However, in an extended bear market, one lingering since late 2017, enthusiasts are wary of any news that might even hint at a potential glut or dump of BTC. For better or worse, as BTC moves, so does the crypto market as a whole.

In fact, many investors continue to smart after the Gox trustee sold off heavy amounts of BTC and BCH not too long ago, effectively tanking prices (a practice he’s since sworn off). In the background too is evergreen speculation about Satoshi’s real personage, with new allegations extending to the likelihood of it being more of a group: three men, and of the principals only one is alive with access to keys enabling him to claim the giant prize by around 2020.

Less read crypto news outlets have widely settled on the rumor the wallet belongs to the long defunct Silk Road website in some fantastic way. They, and many others in the space, claim the US government is the wallet’s subsequent, post-conviction owner, and it is merely taking advantage of a small spike in prices.

Whatever the actual truth, and the posts themselves could be a major troll, it does make for some pretty interesting reading.

What’s your theory about this wallet’s sudden activity? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more.