Bitcoin

<h2 id="header-0">Key Facts</h2>
<ul>
 <li>Bitcoin that had sat untouched since July 30, 2010, moved on Wednesday when 100.02 BTC left a single address, according to Galaxy Research.</li>
 <li>The coins were worth about $8.55 million when they moved, against a cost basis of close to zero, Galaxy said.</li>
 <li>Some X users pointed to later activity at the address, while Galaxy's Alex Thorn said the alert referred to the coins, not the address.</li>
</ul>
A Bitcoin (<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/">BTC</a>) address holding coins first received in July 2010 moved 100.02 BTC on Wednesday, the first time those coins had moved in more than 16 years, according to Galaxy Research.
The coins were worth about $8.55 million when they moved against a cost basis of close to zero, according to Galaxy, which put the gain at more than 108 million percent.
"100.02 BTC ($8.55M) of UTXOs untouched since first received 2010-07-30 (16.2y ago) — just moved in block 970379," Galaxy Research <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://x.com/glxyresearch/status/2107908116721566056">wrote</a> on X.<tweet-embed url="https://x.com/glxyresearch/status/2107908116721566056"></tweet-embed>
The transfer was confirmed around 18:52 UTC on Wednesday, according to Galaxy, from an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/address">address</a> that had held the coins since the period when Bitcoin creator <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/satoshi-nakamoto">Satoshi Nakamoto</a> was still active.
<h2 id="header-1">Galaxy's Alex Thorn Defends 16-Year Dormancy Label</h2>
Not everyone accepted the label. Some X users questioned it, saying the address had recorded transactions in more recent years.
“[T]he coins were dormant. [T]he entire text of the alert refers explicitly to UTXOs," Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://x.com/intangiblecoins/status/2108025386718441564">wrote</a> in reply to a critic. He later said he was adding an alert based on address dormancy alongside the coin-based one, and had reworded both alert types to make the distinction clear.
The distinction comes from how Bitcoin records balances. The network tracks individual unspent transaction outputs, or UTXOs, rather than account balances, so an address can send and receive other coins, including tiny "dust" payments, while older coins at the same address stay unspent. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://mempool.space/address/1J3A7HovGXxK1GoCGMJpXGKa5sSwCrNHJ3">Blockchain data</a> shows the address sent hundreds of BTC between 2015 and 2018 without touching the 2010 coins.
<h2 id="header-2">Dormant Bitcoin Moves Hit 2022 Low in July, Galaxy Said</h2>
Galaxy has been tracking dormant coins for months. It reported in July that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/dormant-bitcoin-movement-lowest-since-2022-galaxy">dormant Bitcoin movement had fallen to its lowest</a> since 2022.
Separately, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/buterin-warns-rushed-wallet-migrations-amid-ai-risk">warned against rushed wallet migrations</a> this week amid AI-related security risks.
At about $81,430 per coin at the time of writing, the 100.02 BTC was worth about $8.14 million, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Read More:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/bitcoin-quantum-custody-race-blackrock-coinbase-bitgo">Is Bitcoin Quantum-Safe? BTC Custodians Aren't Waiting to Find Out</a>

Satoshi-Era Bitcoin Moves for First Time in 16 Years, Galaxy Says

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