‘Sleeping Bitcoin’ Spends Slow Down Considerably in 2022, as 92 Decade-Old BTC Worth $1.79 Million Wake Up

While the price of bitcoin has remained range bound and coasting along just above the $19K zone, over 60% of the bitcoin in circulation has not moved in a year or more. Moreover, there’s been very few transfers from bitcoins stemming from 2010, and it’s been more than two months since the last 2010 block subsidy transfer. Meanwhile, 2011 block subsidy transactions have appeared every now and then, and on October 25, 2022, approximately 92.76 bitcoin worth roughly $1.79 million from 2011 were transferred to unknown wallets.

On October 24, bitcoin supporters celebrated the number of bitcoin (BTC) that haven’t moved in a year or more. The bitcoiners shared a chart from Glassnode that indicates more than 60% of the BTC in circulation has not moved in a year or more.

Bitcoin.com News has also noticed that the number of so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins’ transferred in 2022 has slowed down a great deal since the all-time BTC price highs at the end of 2021. For instance, data from January 2021 to September 28, 2021, had shown 152 transactions derived from ‘sleeping bitcoins’ from 2010.

The same research had shown from January 2021 to September 2021, 85 transfers from 2011 ‘sleeping bitcoins’ occurred. Moreover, while bitcoin (BTC) moved toward its $69K all-time high, hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of ‘sleeping bitcoins’ were transferred in mid-November 2021.

This year, however, the number of ‘sleeping bitcoins’ from 2010 was only 12, and the number of 2011 transactions added up to only 30 transfers. Furthermore, it’s been approximately 64 days since the last 2010 BTC spend that occurred on August 22, 2022.

However, there’s been a total of ten 2011 transactions since then, with two transfers spent on Tuesday, October 25, 2022. On Tuesday, 42.76 BTC were transferred to an unknown address and spent at block height 760,212.

It’s worth noting that the terms “spent” or “spend” in this article, do not necessarily mean that the bitcoins were “sold” to a third party for fiat or another crypto asset. After the 42.76 BTC spend, seven block subsidies later at block height 760,219, approximately 50 BTC were transferred to an unknown address.

Between the 42.76 BTC and the 50 BTC moved on Tuesday, the stash was worth 1.79 million nominal U.S. dollars using today’s BTC exchange rates. While October is not over yet, September and October have not seen any 2010 spends at all, but a total of nine 2011 transfers have occurred during the two-month span.

While 2022 has had a whole lot less spending from 2010 and 2011, the year did show some transfers types that had not occurred since May 2020. This year, a total of five block subsidies or approximately 250 BTC mined in November 2009, were transferred.

The recent data from Glassnode shows that more than 60% of the BTC in circulation has not moved in a year or more, and the fewer 2010 and 2011 transfers suggests BTC owners are waiting for the bear market to end before moving old coins. A great majority of the old ‘sleeping bitcoins’ that moved in October have derived from coins and block subsidies from 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

What do you think about the slowing trend of 2010 and 2011 ‘sleeping bitcoin’ spends? Let us know your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.