A stash of 100.02 bitcoin mined in July 2010 changed addresses on Wednesday, its first movement in 16 years, Decrypt reported. At roughly $83,000 per coin, it was worth about $8.3 million. The label Satoshi-era refers to coins from Bitcoin's first years, named for Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the network's creator.
The transaction was confirmed in block 970,379 and split the coins between two new addresses, with 10 BTC going to the first and 90.02 BTC to the second. The sender paid a fee of 1,467 satoshis, or about $1.22. A satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin, equal to one hundred-millionth of a coin.
The coins were mined in two pieces in late July 2010 and combined into a single transaction on July 30, 2010. Galaxy Research said the address had been active before, but these particular coins had not moved since 2010.
The transaction does not reveal who owns the coins, and moving bitcoin between addresses is not the same as selling it. As of Thursday, both amounts were still sitting in their new addresses, according to Decrypt. Other early coins have stirred recently too: in August, six long-idle wallets from 2011, 2012 or 2014 moved 553.59 BTC.
Why it matters for beginners
Old coins waking up often make headlines and stir fears of a big sale, but the blockchain only shows that coins changed addresses, not what the owner plans to do. Owners may be improving security or moving to a newer address format. The story is also a reminder of why private keys and seed phrases matter so much: whoever controls the keys controls the coins, even 16 years later.
Source
Finvane summary of reporting by Decrypt. Facts and figures come from the original report; the wording is ours.
Read the original report: Satoshi-Era Bitcoin Worth $8.3 Million Moves After 16 Years ↗For education only, not financial advice. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose money.