About 100 bitcoin mined in July 2010 moved Wednesday after more than 16 years, rising in market value from approximately $6 to roughly $8.5 million. According to reports from CoinDesk, the coins came directly from two mining rewards and date to the "Satoshi era," but their age does not establish a connection to Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator. The transaction sent 10 bitcoin to one address and approximately 90.02 bitcoin to another, though public records do not show who controls them or whether they will be sold.
The 100.02 BTC arrived at an address on July 30, 2010, and remained there until a transaction confirmed at 18:52 UTC Wednesday, as reported by CoinDesk. Bitcoin traded around 6 cents when the address received the coins, putting their market value at approximately $6 at the time. The coins date from the "Satoshi era," when Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto was still active, though their age does not establish a connection to Nakamoto. Wednesday's transaction combined the old holding with six tiny later deposits.
The alert prompted questions online because the address had spent other bitcoin between 2011 and 2018, according to CoinDesk reports. The address spent 200 BTC across two transactions in August 2015, another 100 BTC in December 2017 and 249 BTC in March 2018. "This address has been somewhat active in the past, but these specific coins have not moved since 2010. We track the coins," Galaxy Research said on X. The separate 100.02 BTC payment from July 2010 remained unspent throughout this period, with Bitcoin records showing incoming payments separately, allowing a wallet to spend one payment while leaving another untouched.
According to CoinDesk, the coins date from the "Satoshi era," when Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto was still active. Galaxy Research confirmed that the coins came directly from two mining rewards created in July 2010, one worth 50 BTC and the other 50.02 BTC, including fees. Miners received 50 newly created coins per block at the time. Both holdings remained unspent when CoinDesk checked Thursday morning, with the transaction combining the old holding with six tiny later deposits.
