A dormant bitcoin address, which had been sitting inactive for nine years and received 235 bitcoins in 2013, was activated Sunday, the 19th of December. Bitcoin’s price has dropped lower after reaching its all-time high on November 10, and throughout December, records show a great number of so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins’ have activated during this period.
After many years of slumber, dormant addresses wake up
On November 10, bitcoin (BTC), which hit an all-time high of $69K per unit, a 2010 miner spent 1000 sleeping bitcoins as well as 1,000 bitcoin cash (BCH). It was 20 blocks rewards that were mined in 2010 well before the bitcoin price reached its peak of $69K per unit. The source for 1,000 bitcoins came from these block rewards. The same entity also spent 1,000 BTC the next day. On November 3, a block of Bitcoin from 2010 worth 50 BTC (or $2.3 million) was also used.
It was November and 11 blocks rewards, all ten-year old and originally mined in 2011, were activated by the network and sent to new BTC addresses. That’s a total of 550 BTC worth $25.8 million using today’s bitcoin exchange rates. There have been four activated 2011 block rewards of 200 BTC each, totaling $9.3 million, during December 2021. There haven’t been any 2010 block rewards spent but seven blocks from 2012 were activated, 14 blocks from 2013, and five blocks from 2014.
A 2013 dormant account that had originally held 235 bitcoin was activated today by paying 100 BTC. The address still has 135.80 BTC and Blockchair’s privacy-o-meter explains the transaction was sent with 0 privacy score and had “critical” privacy concerns. One transaction vulnerability seen in the transaction was “matched addresses identified.” On Thursday, December 16, a dormant address containing 225 bitcoin was activated after 8.4 years. This address has approximately 25 BTC and holds 200 BTC. These whale addresses have not spent the bitcoin cash or bitcoinsv (BCH) equivalent.
‘Waking up’ Doesn’t Necessarily Mean ‘Sold’
A dormant address with 187 bitcoins sitting in ide for 8 years moved 13 BTC on November 22 and kept 174.43 BTC idle in its wallet. The wallet’s corresponding BCH and BSV still hold 187 coins each and were not spent. On November 20, another wallet with bitcoins in sleep mode that had sat for 8.3 years, was activated. While the whale address used 1,299.98 BTC to make $61 million, it did not use 1,299 BCH nor BSV.
On the 10th, and the 11th of November, two more inactive addresses with bitcoins old were activated. After 7.5 years, an address with 234 BTC and 53.16 BTC was unloaded that day. A dormant address that was 8.1 years old or from 2013, which had been activated when BTC touched $69K per unit. The address moved 2,207.60 BTC or $103.7 million worth of bitcoin using today’s exchange rates.
Whatever case it may have been, bitcoin owners who had very old wallets made the decision to send their coins out for the first-time in many years. 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.
The so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins’ could have been sold or could have been merely transferred to different wallets. Many of these wallets allow coins to move from legacy Bitcoin addresses to Segregated Witness (Segwit), addresses (Bech32). Many of these coins could be sold for fiat, as most crypto exchanges support Bech32 addresses.
How do you feel about the idea of all those old wallets finally waking up in December 2021 after years of being dormant? Comment below and let us know how you feel about the subject.
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