A batch of 100.02 BTC mined in July 2010 moved on Wednesday for the first time in about 16 years.
The coins, worth roughly $8.3 million at the time of the move, were split into two new addresses, one holding 10 BTC and the other 90.02 BTC. The transaction was confirmed in block 970,379 and cost a fee of about $1.22. Both new addresses were untouched as of Thursday.
Where the coins came from
The Bitcoin came from two mining rewards. One of 50.02 BTC was mined on 26 July 2010, and another of 50 BTC two days later. The two payouts were combined into one transaction on 30 July 2010 and then left alone.
At the time they were worth about $29 in total, based on the highest recorded Bitcoin price of 2010.
Not a lost wallet
These coins are often described as Satoshi-era, but nothing on-chain links them to Satoshi Nakamoto, and nothing identifies the owner.
The owner was not lost either. The same address sent 100 BTC twice in August 2015, another 100 BTC in December 2017 and 249 BTC in March 2018. Those were other coins. Galaxy Research, which tracks every unspent Bitcoin output, said that “these specific coins have not moved since 2010.”
The quantum angle
The move lands in a week of warnings about the security of old Bitcoin. Europol named wallets with exposed public keys as the main risk from a future quantum computer, and Ethereum researcher Justin Drake said AI could break those keys sooner.
This address had exposed its public key since at least 2015, when it sent other coins. Moving the 2010 coins to fresh addresses removes that exposure. It is exactly the step both warnings recommend, though there is no way to know whether that was the owner’s reason.
Not a sale
Moving coins between addresses is not the same as selling them, and none of these coins has reached an exchange. Several long-dormant wallets have moved this year, including six that shifted about 553 BTC in late August.
