Two bitcoin wallets move 20,000 BTC after 14 years of dormancy

After more than 14 years of inactivity, two bitcoin wallet addresses collectively holding 20,000 BTC were activated late Thursday night, according to onchain data.

On April 3, 2011, Bitcoin wallet address "1HqXB...gDwcK" transferred 23,377.83 BTC to three different destinations. Two of these addresses each received 10,000 BTC, while the third took the remaining 3,377.83 BTC, according to Blockchain.com data.

For 14 years, the two wallets that received 10,000 BTC each — "12tLs...xj2me" and "1KbrS...AWJYm" — remained dormant. This changed across late Thursday night and early Friday morning, when they moved their respective 10,000 BTC stashes to new addresses within 30 minutes of each other. The third wallet, which received 3,377.83 BTC, had already spent or moved its funds back in 2011.

The receiving addresses have not moved the bitcoin since. Receiving the 10,000 BTC is the first transaction recorded on both addresses. 

Over the 14 years of dormancy, the 20,000 BTC has appreciated by 13,982,800% in value, rising from a mere $7,800 to $2.18 billion. The exact reason for the transfer, the owners’ identity, and whether a single individual controls both addresses remain unknown.

Meanwhile, bitcoin held steady in the past day, down 0.09% to trade at $109,064 as of 1:30 a.m. on Friday. The world's largest cryptocurrency has managed to maintain a solid position above the $100,000 resistance line in recent weeks, where analysts say a longer-term macro catalyst could boost it through its all-time high of around $118,000.

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