Dormant Satoshi-Era Bitcoin Whale Moves $16M After 14 Years of Inactivity

 Quick Breakdown 

• A 2009-era Bitcoin wallet moved 150 BTC worth over $16 million after 14 years of inactivity.
• The wallet is tied to an early miner who once held nearly 8,000 BTC, now down to 3,850 BTC.
• More early Bitcoin “whales” have recently resurfaced, reigniting interest in the origins of their fortunes.

Ancient Bitcoin wallet awakens after 14 years

A long-dormant Bitcoin wallet dating back to the early days of the network has suddenly sprung to life, transferring a portion of its massive holdings for the first time in 14 years. The “Satoshi-era” address, belonging to an unknown early miner, reportedly moved 150 BTC—worth over $16 million—on Thursday, according to blockchain tracker Whale Alert.

💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 A dormant address containing 4,000 #BTC (442,256,951 USD) has just been activated after 14.3 years (worth 67,724 USD in 2011)!

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) October 23, 2025

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The address is believed to have mined 4,000 BTC between April and June 2009, just months after Bitcoin’s launch. Data from on-chain analytics firm Nansen reveals that the wallet had been inactive since June 2011, when it consolidated around 4,000 BTC into a single address. 

At today’s price of roughly $110,604 per BTC, the total value of the whale’s holdings sits around $442 million—a staggering rise from when Bitcoin was worth just $194 in 2010 according to CoinMarketCap.

Possible 8,000 BTC origin and steady sell-off

Blockchain researcher Emmett Gallic suggested the whale might have originally held about 8,000 BTC across several wallets and has been gradually liquidating over time. “A whale that once held 8,000 BTC activated a new Satoshi-era wallet and has been selling steadily, now down to 3,850 BTC after today’s 150 BTC move,” Gallic wrote on X. Data from Mempool Space confirms the address has received a total of 7,850 BTC and now shows a remaining balance of 3,850 BTC.

Old whales stirring once again

This isn’t the first reawakening of early Bitcoin holders. In July, another Satoshi-era whale controlling 80,201 BTC made its final transfer to Galaxy Digital after more than a decade of dormancy. Veteran crypto analyst Willy Woo noted earlier that whales with holdings over 10,000 BTC have been gradually selling since 2017, even as institutional interest in Bitcoin continues to grow.

Additionally, A long-term Bitcoin holder who offloaded more than $4 billion worth of BTC for Ethereum in August is back selling again. Lookonchain reported that two wallets tied to the whale moved 1,176 BTC valued at around $136 million into the Hyperliquid exchange before beginning to sell.

 

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