Over $8 Billion in ‘Satoshi Era’ Bitcoin Moves in Largest Transfer Ever Recorded

More than $8 billion worth of bitcoin, mined during the earliest days of the network known as the “Satoshi era,” was transferred on Friday in what appears to be the largest movement of such coins on record.

All of these bitcoins belong to one of the rarest classes of BTC: coins mined or transacted between 2009 and 2011, a period when bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still active online.

According to CoinDesk, two wallets that had been dormant for over 14 years each moved 10,000 BTC to new addresses early Friday. The coins in those wallets were originally received on April 3, 2011, when bitcoin’s price was just $0.78.

At today’s prices, each of those wallets holds bitcoin now valued at more than $1.1 billion—a staggering increase exceeding 13.9 million percent since they were first acquired.

The coins originated from a wallet labeled “1HqXB…gDwcK,” which sent 23,377.83 BTC to three separate addresses back in 2011. Of those, two addresses—“12tLs…xj2me” and “1KbrS…AWJYm”—retained the majority of the funds until this week, while the third wallet, which held 3,377 BTC, spent its holdings later in 2011.

Late on Friday, blockchain intelligence firm Arkham identified six additional wallets transferring over 10,000 BTC in rapid succession. At current market prices, those transfers are worth more than $8.6 billion.

Arkham’s analysis suggests that a single entity may control all eight wallets involved in these movements. However, as of Saturday morning in Asia, no individual or organization has stepped forward to claim ownership.

The recently moved bitcoin has been transferred into fresh wallets utilizing modern, lower-fee address formats. None of the new wallets has since moved the funds further, leaving the identity of the owner—and their intentions—unknown.

Wallets dating back to the Satoshi era are considered some of crypto’s “holy grail” holdings. They rarely see activity and are closely watched by traders, as significant sales from such wallets might signal that early miners or believers are changing their outlook on the market.