A dormant Bitcoin (BTC) wallet, “17TZNT,” sprung to life after six years of inactivity, moving 2995 BTC, roughly $82.3 million, to two new addresses today, Oct. 10.
According to an image shared by blockchain security firm Peckshield, the wallet received 3,200 BTC on May 7, 2016, when the top cryptocurrency traded at an average of $459. One year later, the wallet transferred 204 BTC and has remained dormant.
Since the wallet’s first purchase, BTC’s price has increased by nearly 6000% to $27,703 as of press time, according to CryptoSlate’s data.
Dormant BTC wallets springing to life
In a parallel development, another dormant wallet recently made a substantial move, transferring approximately 5,000 BTC valued at around $140 million on October 8 to three different wallets, as reported by PeckShield Alert. This wallet was inactive for three years before this transaction.
Data from BTCparser also shows that the industry has witnessed a flurry of old-school Bitcoiners moving their substantial holding this month.
Crypto analyst Jill Martin noted that dormant Bitcoin addresses from 2012 have been particularly coming to life after over a decade of inactivity, citing examples of four addresses that transferred 653 BTC, valued at $18.25 million this month.
Martin said:
“This phenomenon offers a glimpse into the early days of Bitcoin, with vintage coins gaining substantial value over time. While the sightings of 2010 addresses are becoming rare, the recent awakening of 2012 addresses adds an intriguing chapter to the cryptocurrency’s history.”
The reasons behind this resurgence of dormant accounts and their potential impact on Bitcoin’s price remain unclear.
Earlier in the year, CryptoSlate reported that the activation of previously dormant BTC wallets sparked rumors that malicious players were targeting the OG’s.
Blockchain analytics company Glassnode’s data reveals that more than 13 million BTC, equivalent to approximately $390 billion, have remained untouched for at least one year. This represents approximately 68.54% of the total circulating supply of this cryptocurrency.
