In the early hours of July 31, an ancient Bitcoin wallet — untouched since 2010 — suddenly came back online and moved its full 50 BTC balance for the first time in 15.3 years. At current prices, that is over $5.9 million — a 11,833,000% increase from the estimated $0.10 per coin it was originally mined for, according to Whale Alert.
Blockchain data shows that the coins originated from the address “13giEg,” which received the standard 50 BTC block reward at a time when Bitcoin was little more than an experiment. The coins were then routed through a second inactive wallet before ending up in a modern SegWit address, which is currently holding exactly 100 BTC — worth just under $11.9 million.
The wallet’s long period of inactivity, combined with the fact that it was last funded when Satoshi Nakamoto was still active on forums, instantly put it on the radar of on-chain observers.
This is a rare case of a miner from the protocol’s earliest phase moving coins without prior dusting, testing or partial withdrawal. It was a clean, precise activation — no hesitation, no trial sends.
What’s next?
It is not clear if the people behind the move plan to sell, consolidate or just reorganize cold storage, but the recent activity has raised questions about who still has early BTC and what their plan is.
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At the moment, none of the destination wallets are linked to major exchanges. But the fact that one of Bitcoin’s oldest block rewards has now been touched — after nearly 5,600 days of total dormancy — is a story in itself. Sometimes the biggest signal is not a market pump or dump; it is just a quiet wallet saying it is time to move.
