Bitcoin Satoshi Era whale transfers $180 million worth of BTC to a compliant platform

Source: PortaldoBitcoin Original Title: Satoshi Era Bitcoin Whale Transfers $180 Million in BTC to Coinbase Original Link: An early Bitcoin miner transfers 2,000 BTC to a compliant platform, blockchain analysis reveals this movement.

Transaction data shows these funds were moved in batches of 50 BTC on Saturday, tokens that have not been moved for over 15 years.

A spokesperson from on-chain analysis platform Bubblemaps said, “Most addresses in this group appear to have been financed in 2010 during the Satoshi era at a price of 50 BTC, with the vast majority of funds returning to the cryptocurrency exchange.”

These crypto assets trace back to the “Satoshi Nakamoto era,” when Bitcoin’s creator mined each block with a reward of 50 BTC.

Although worth only $3.50 in July 2010, at current market rates, this block reward has surged to $4.5 million.

Currently, the total value of these 2,000 BTC exceeds $182 million, demonstrating the power of large investors.

Tracking Whale Movements

Movements of inactive Bitcoin addresses can attract attention in the crypto market, raising concerns about aggressive selling.

Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, emphasized these transactions in a post, stating, “Historically, miners from the Satoshi era have moved their Bitcoin at critical turning points.”

He added that this is the largest token transfer from that period since November 2024, when Bitcoin was around $91,000.

Rachel Lin, CEO of SynFutures, told media that transfers to centralized exchanges have traditionally signaled “potential liquidity events, whether for profit-taking, collateral reallocation, or position adjustments before volatility.”

“In other words, not every whale movement means an imminent liquidation,” she added. “Early holders are often highly strategic, using exchanges for hedging, OTC trades, or structured operations rather than direct liquidation.”

Lin pointed out that market reactions will be crucial, as they could “increase short-term uncertainty, amplify volatility, and eliminate leveraged traders in markets already sensitive to macroeconomic signals and ETF inflows.”

These funds are spread across 40 P2PK addresses—also known as Pay-to-Public-Key addresses.

This was the original method of receiving Bitcoin at blockchain launch, with Satoshi Nakamoto using this method to send tokens to collaborator Hal Finney.

Bitcoin Whale Awakening

Addresses that suddenly become active after years of inactivity are rare but not unprecedented.

Last September, a whale holding 479 BTC for 12 years transferred a batch of tokens to a new address.

These addresses belong to some of the earliest investors to profit from their holdings, with some converting Bitcoin to Ethereum as the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world began to perform well.

Transfers to centralized exchanges may indicate these tokens are about to be sold, but early crypto markets on Monday appeared to be almost unaffected by panic.