An early Bitcoin (BTC) miner just moved 50 BTC worth nearly 5 million at the time of writing after holding them since they were worth $5.
Pete Rizzo — a self-described Bitcoin historian — noticed and pointed out the transaction in a recent X post. The wallet in question obtained the coin after mining a block with the original full 50 BTC block reward back in mid-September 2010.
The address in question used the old pay to public key (P2PK) script pattern. One X user suggested that this may mean that the transaction may be “someone moving quantum-vulnerable funds to safer keys.”
This follows a similar transaction being reported in September 2024, when over 250 Bitcoin (BTC) mined in the early days of the network moved after laying dormant for 15 years. Those are so-called Satoshi era transactions, referring to assets not moving since the time when Bitcoin ‘s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still active.
Another similar transaction took place when an early Bitcoin miner moved 50 BTC worth over $3 million in mid-April 2024. Those assets were also from the Satoshi era of the network, obtained as mining rewards in April 2010.
Rumors and theories
Another user speculated that the recently-pardoned Ross Ulbricht may have found access to an old wallet. Until being recently pardoned by new United States president Donald Trump, Ulbricht was imprisoned since 2015 for funding the world’s first darknet black market in February 2011.
Silk Road worked remarkably similarly to eBay, but transactions were in Bitcoin and with a focus on illegal goods — primarily drugs. The market was popular enough that much of the circulating Bitcoin was at one point involved with the market.
The United States government was allowed by a court to sell $6.5 billion worth of Bitcoin from Silk Road last month. Still, there is no real indication that the Bitcoin in question has any involvement with Ulbricht or the now defunct Silk Road black market.