According to data revealed by blockchain tracking tool Whale Alert, a dormant Bitcoin wallet with a balance of 407 bitcoins (approx. $15.5 million at current prices) just made its first transaction in a long while. The wallet which has not seen any activity for 8.3 years was worth only $355,254 back in 2013. This means the balance has witnessed a staggering 4,254% surge.
???? A dormant address containing 407 #BTC (15,460,523 USD) has just been activated after 8.3 years (worth 355,254 USD in 2013)!https://t.co/QxXaQHvmLI
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) March 7, 2022
The wallet address, which is not linked to any individual or firm, sparked many reactions from the crypto community. Some say the wallet could belong to someone that just came out of jail while others connected it to the Bitcoin pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto who disappeared 11 years ago.
In recent times, wallets containing large amounts of BTC have come out of dormancy. These wallets are being reactivated by their owners who haven’t performed any transaction on them for many years.
Some of the reasons wallets are left dormant are: investors losing their wallet private keys which take time to recover, individuals serving jail terms, and investors purposely holding their coins with the hope that their price will continue to increase.
At the same time, some have been unlucky with regaining their lost private keys to regain access to their accounts. Sadly, these account holders can only watch as their crypto holdings increase in value with no way to recover them.
Long-Term Bitcoin Holders Often Win
Reports of a dormant Bitcoin wallet being reactivated have emerged in recent times. Last June, a dormant BTC wallet with an $11 million balance was reactivated after having just a balance of $1,894 back in 2011.
In a similar development, in late 2021, data from Whale Alert revealed that a BTC wallet containing $77.6 million had been reactivated after spending 8.1 years in dormancy. The wallet was only worth $199,962 in 2013.
