Early Satoshi-Era Whale Moves $5 Million Worth Of BTC Mined 15 Years Ago

Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo has identified a wallet address of a “diamond hands” whale, showcasing long-term gains associated with HODLing.

According to Rizzo, an ancient Bitcoin whale that mined BTC in the network’s early days has finally moved its coins mined some 15 years ago. Specifically, the mysterious BTC whale transferred 50 BTC, now worth $5 million.

Reaping Profits Through HODL Strategy

A Bitcoin whale, whose BTC sat gathering dust since being mined in 2010, has finally woken up.

According to Pete Rizzo, the miner, who HODLed for 15 years — received the 50 Bitcoins when the crypto was trading at $0.10 per coin, only to see them grow into a staggering $5 million as BTC crossed the $100,000 price mark.

The investment in question entails “Satoshi-era” coins, which were created when the foremost crypto’s pseudonymous creator, Nakamoto, was still active online in forums. 

A Bitcoin whale in crypto jargon refers to investors who hoard large amounts of digital coins and don’t touch them for years. It’s not clear from blockchain data whether such “HODLers” are individuals or firms, though given the age of the coins back to the earliest days of Bitcoin, it’s most likely an individual in this case. Nonetheless, such investors make enormous gains as a result of the long-term HODLing.

The wallet’s movement created a lot of buzz on social media, with speculation that it could be linked to the recently-pardoned Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. 

Notably, the transaction leveraged three key Bitcoin blockchain features, including SegWit (Segregated Witness) for enhanced scalability, Taproot for increased privacy and smart contract capability, and RBF (Replace-By-Fee) —  allowing for fee adjustments if necessary.

Despite utilizing these fairly new features, the mysterious investor did not make an initial test transaction before moving the $5 million worth of BTC. Notably, Bitcoin users typically send a smaller amount of crypto first to verify the receiving address.

In recent days, Bitcoin has witnessed wild price swings — plummeting to as low as $92,876 on Monday after President Trump threatened tariffs against America’s largest trading partners, spurring fears of inflation and tighter monetary policy. 

Bitcoin’s price has rebounded slightly after Mexico and Canada reached deals with the US, changing hands at $98,614 as of publication time.