100 BTC Mined in 2010 Moves for the First Time in 16 Years
Key Takeaways
- •A Bitcoin wallet that left its July 2010 mining rewards untouched moved 100.02 BTC on October 7, 2026, closing a dormancy period of more than 16 years.
- •The stash was valued at roughly $6 when mined and approximately $8.5 million at the time of the transfer, with Bitcoin trading near $82,500.
- •The owner consolidated the original unspent transaction outputs with smaller later deposits and split the total between two new addresses receiving 10 BTC and about 90.02 BTC respectively.
- •Shortly after the transaction, neither new address showed further movement and no funds had been sent to an exchange, leaving a possible sale or a security upgrade as the likely explanations.
- •No link to Satoshi Nakamoto has been established, and the address had previously spent other coins in 2015, 2017, and 2018 while the 2010 rewards remained in place.
A Bitcoin address that had left its original mining rewards untouched since July 30, 2010, transferred 100.02 BTC on October 7, 2026, bringing a stretch of more than 16 years of on-chain silence to an end.
When the coins first arrived, the entire stash carried a value of roughly $6. By the time of the transfer, with Bitcoin trading near $82,500, those same coins were worth approximately $8.5 million.
How the Funds Moved
The coins stem from mining rewards earned in July 2010. Galaxy Research flagged the transfer and traced the funds across the blockchain, and CoinDesk separately confirmed their July 2010 origin.
In the transaction, the owner consolidated the long-held unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) with several smaller deposits the address had received in the years since. The resulting balance was split between two newly created addresses: one received 10 BTC, while the other took in approximately 90.02 BTC.
Shortly after the transfer, neither of the two new addresses showed further movement, and none of the funds had been sent to an exchange or otherwise put to use.
Not Entirely Asleep
Although the 2010 rewards never budged, the address was not wholly inactive across the 16-year window. It spent other coins in 2015, 2017, and 2018, while the July 2010 mining rewards remained in place throughout.
No link to Satoshi Nakamoto has been established. A large number of participants were mining in 2010, and a coin's age offers little indication of who originally earned it.
Broader Context
Galaxy Research's tracking situates the transfer within a wider pickup in movement of long-dormant Bitcoin observed during 2026. If either of the two new addresses sends coins to a known exchange deposit address, that would point toward a sale. If both remain quiet, the transaction will most likely prove to be a security upgrade by an exceptionally patient early miner.
Source: CryptoBriefing
