Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy

On May 11, 2023, a long-inactive bitcoin wallet sprang to life and transferred a substantial 139.7 bitcoin worth $3.7 million. The address, established on June 19, 2011, has contributed to the year’s total of 1,125.37 bitcoin moved from dormant 2010 and 2011 wallets.

A vintage wallet created on June 19, 2011, suddenly relocated 139.7 BTC, equivalent to $3.7 million at the time of transfer, on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Btcparser.com flagged this activity, which was confirmed at block height 789,291 at 8:14 p.m. (UTC). Shortly before that date — April 24 — the last 2011 bitcoin transfer from a dormant wallet took place and involved shifting 400 BTC at block height 786,801. The wallet that received the 139.7 bitcoin still holds the funds as of May 12, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. (ET).



Throughout this year, inactive wallets from both 2010 and 2011 have collectively transmitted a whopping 1,125.37 BTC valued at around $30 million under current Bitcoin exchange rates. The address responsible for dispatching the aforementioned 139.7 BTC initially received a slightly smaller sum of 134.669 BTC back on June 19, 2011. By July 13 of the same year, it accumulated another batch of coins — 5.04 BTC — followed by several minuscule deposits referred to as “dust transactions” amounting to roughly 0.00000547 BTC each.



The recent transaction involving the transfer of 139.7 BTC received a moderate privacy score of 45 out of 100 according to Blockchair’s privacy-o-meter tool. It faces two issues: its entire balance was communicated to another address and multiple iterations of the same address appeared in inputs. These issues are not severe but they can be traced by monitoring applications examining linked transactions. Additionally, the corresponding bitcoin cash (BCH) associated with the wallet has not been spent.

What do you think about the long-dormant bitcoin wallet that woke up after close to 12 years of slumber? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments below.