TLDR
- 600 BTC worth around $48 million moved from dormant wallets after more than 16 years
- The coins were mined in March 2010, when each block paid a 50 BTC reward
- Whale Alert traced all 12 mining block rewards and found no connection to Satoshi Nakamoto
- One coin moved first in what Whale Alert described as a test transaction pattern
- Lookonchain had earlier flagged seven of the wallets, identifying 350 BTC moved after 16.5 years of inactivity
Bitcoin mined in March 2010 has moved for the first time in over 16 years, sending ripples through the crypto community.
On Saturday, 12 dormant addresses holding a combined 600 Bitcoin transferred their funds. At current prices, that is roughly $48 million worth of BTC.
7 miner wallets woke up after 16.5 years of inactivity and moved 350 $BTC ($28M) 6 hours ago.
These miners earned the 350 $BTC from mining in March 2010.
Wallets:
1LqKzBmdLGfEmvQPvzRQYBsb1VuBLFMeJ8
1Q9oY6c8T3KyjzrT7NVgx6qcoPXc3fU1R1
15VmQyGwCwiDmTk1e9jn2RbfGBLpusSJeP… pic.twitter.com/xa6c4NbqAf— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 6, 2026
The coins date back to Bitcoin’s early days, when each block paid a 50 BTC mining reward. That subsidy has since been halved four times, dropping to 3.125 BTC per block after the April 2024 halving.
Because the coins are from 2010, the period when Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto was still active, many were quick to speculate about a possible link to the founder.
Nakamoto remained involved in Bitcoin development through 2010 before slowly withdrawing from the project. Their last known communication was in April 2011.
No Evidence Linking the Coins to Satoshi
Whale Alert, a blockchain tracking platform, traced all 12 block rewards and found no connection to Nakamoto.
ℹ️ ℹ️ ℹ️ Yesterday's dormant transactions were made by addresses that mined 50 bitcoin:native in blocks 43361, 43452, 43647, 43680, 43765, 43855 and 43871.
According to our research, none of these blocks were mined by Satoshi. Read more about it here:https://t.co/TzCdHiPBOG
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) September 6, 2026
“None of the blocks can be connected to Satoshi based on our research,” a Whale Alert spokesperson told Cointelegraph.
The firm had previously analyzed seven of the 12 rewards and reached the same conclusion. This latest work extended that analysis to the full set.
Lookonchain, another onchain analytics platform, had also flagged seven miner wallets that moved 350 BTC after 16.5 years of inactivity. Those wallets were also tied to the March 2010 mining period.
The key point analysts are making is that “Satoshi-era” coins are not the same as “Satoshi’s coins.” The distinction matters because any narrative linking dormant coins to Nakamoto tends to fuel short-term speculation in the market.
How the Transfers Unfolded
Whale Alert also noted something unusual about the order of the transfers.
One of the 12 rewards moved several blocks before the rest. The platform said this pattern looks like a test transaction, where a sender checks that a transfer works before moving larger amounts.
That kind of behavior suggests deliberate planning rather than a single sweep of all wallets at once.
Without access to private keys or other off-chain information, blockchain analysts can only work from what is visible on the public ledger.
It remains unclear whether other early-era wallets connected to the same mining period will follow with more transfers.
For now, Whale Alert’s research gives no reason to believe Satoshi Nakamoto is behind this week’s activity.
The coins moved. The identity behind them remains unknown.
