Decade-Old ‘Sleeping Bitcoins’ Awaken: $8 Million Moved From 2012 Addresses

In 2023, there’s been a marked uptick in activity from so-called ‘sleeping bitcoins’ that date back to 2012. After eight transactions totaling 520 BTC from 2012 spent four days ago, an address from 2012 moved 149.99 BTC at block height 809,204 on Sunday afternoon. The wallet, dormant for more than 11 years, began with a value of $853. Today, the cache’s value has surged to a significantly larger net worth of $3.93 million. The following day, an address established on the identical date as the prior 2012 transaction shifted 157.66 BTC in the wee hours of Monday.

Rising From the Archives: 2012 Wallets Move 307 Bitcoin

While no ‘sleeping bitcoin’ spends from 2010 or 2011 were recorded in September, there have been 19 from 2012 this month. On Sunday, September 24, 2023, at block height 809,204, the bitcoin address “1HdwP” transferred 149.99 BTC valued at $3.93 million. The funds were shifted to the bitcoin address “1LWgC,” where they remain as of this report.

The original “1HdwP” address was established on February 8, 2012, and the vintage bitcoins remained untouched for 11 years, seven months, and 16 days. On the wallet’s creation day, BTC traded at $5.69 per unit, based on historic exchange rates. By the day of the recent transfer, the stash’s value had jumped to $3.93 million.

The movement was initially detected by the blockchain parser btcparser.com, and Blockchair’s privacy tool gave the transfer a score of zero. According to Blockchair, this indicates that “identified issues are significantly endangering the privacy of the parties involved.” One of the detected vulnerabilities was address reuse, suggesting the sender utilized the same address for both receiving and change.

The next day, at block height 809,258, an address originating from February 8, 2012, transferred 157.66 BTC valued at $4.1 million. The address “1AGwm” didn’t employ any privacy measures, and Blockchair highlighted two vulnerabilities in the transaction. Both address reuse and round value outputs came to light.

The day the address from 2012 was created, the stash was worth $897. After the transfer of another batch of sleeping bitcoins from 2012 on Sunday, the year’s total from 2012 reached 5,438.46 BTC, roughly valued at $141 million.

In the four-day period between the 149.99 BTC transfer and the 520 BTC transactions, two transfers accounted for 59.19 BTC from 2015. Additionally, 15 BTC from 2016 was moved on Sept. 23. Then, on Sept. 23 and 24, three transfers totaled 139.99 BTC from 2014 wallets. Notably, 63.99 BTC of that 139.99 BTC from 2014 was transferred shortly before the 149.99 BTC transaction from 2012 at block height 809,104.

What do you think about the number of so-called sleeping bitcoin spends from 2012 transferred in September 2023? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.