Why Ancient Wallets Are Coming Alive in 2025

The “whale awakening” in numbers

In July 2025, analysts watched eight Satoshi-era wallets, each holding 10,000 BTC, move their coins for the first time in 14 years.

In total, 80,000 Bitcoin (BTC) (about $8.6 billion at the time) shifted out of long-dormant addresses in a single clustered episode of movement observed onchain. Blockchain sleuths traced these coins back to 2011, when they were acquired for under $210,000 in total, implying a return of nearly 4,000,000%.

Two separate wallets, each with 10,000 BTC and inactive since 2011, were also…