Dormant BTC Wallets Worth Millions Reawaken; Trader Raises Concerns

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Dormant BTC Wallets Worth Millions Reawaken; Trader Raises Concerns
  • Security concerns were raised by CNBC’s Crypto Trader host over the reactivation of old Bitcoin addresses, saying that it could be “really scary.”
  • A dormant $27M Bitcoin wallet has woken up after 12 years of sleep.
  • Glassnode reports that Bitcoin activity has increased with 270k daily transactions.

Following reports of the activation of a dormant Bitcoin wallet holding 1,000 BTC worth $27 million after 12 years, host of CNBC’s “Crypto Trader” Ran Neuner expressed concerns about old BTC addresses becoming active. He said that it could be “really scary” if a wallet generator had been cracked, which would be catastrophic.

According to reports, the Satoshi-era Bitcoin whale moved 400 BTC worth around $11 million after a 12-year period of no transactions. The movements showed the whale moved 360 BTC ($9.8 million) to one wallet and another 40 BTC to a number of other locations, while 600 BTC remains in the wallet.

On-chain data shows that the recently activated wallet received BTC worth $1,380 last 2021. The activated wallet has had several transactions of receiving BTC since 2011. However, the latest activity represents the first transaction since that year.

This is the second time in recent weeks that news has been made about a wallet being reactivated after being dormant for over a decade. Last week, Whale Alert reported that a whale with 1,128 BTC moved over 279 BTC, or $7.6 million, to new wallets after 10.5 years of inactivity. On-chain analytics firm Lookonchain provided further details on the wallet activity.

These events come as the Bitcoin network is experiencing an uptick in activity, with Glassnode reporting that organic transaction counts are now over 270k/day, approaching cycle highs on a monthly average basis.

Despite the recent increase in activity, Bitcoin is down 0.64% over the last 24 hours, trading at $27,433, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin remains the most dominant cryptocurrency on the market and has already surpassed $30,000 in 2023 following a frigid crypto winter a year prior.

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