A mysterious Bitcoin user has initiated a transaction involving 26.9 BTC, valued at $1.17 million, directed towards the Genesis wallet, which stands as the inaugural wallet ever established on the Bitcoin network. The probability of the sender reclaiming these funds appears slim.
The transaction unfolded on January 5 at 1:52 AM ET, with the Bitcoin originating from an emptied wallet, and a relatively high transaction fee of $100 was incurred, surpassing the typical average fee.
The wallet in question underwent an intricate funding process, wherein funds were transferred from three wallets to 12 others. Notably, a significant portion of the funds originated from a wallet attributed to Binance, as per blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence.
Conor Grogan, a director at Coinbase, expressed uncertainty regarding the transaction’s origin, humorously suggesting, “Either Satoshi woke up, bought 27 bitcoin from Binance, and deposited into their wallet, or someone just burned a million dollars,” on X.
The Genesis wallet, the pioneering wallet established on the Bitcoin network, was crafted by the pseudonymous figure known as Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. Nakamoto likely engaged in substantial mining activities during the network’s early phases, although the precise number remains unclear.
While theoretically possible for Nakamoto to retain private keys for wallet access and manipulate or return the funds, prevailing consensus deems such an occurrence as unlikely. Notably, funds associated with Nakamoto, including those in the Genesis block, have been dormant since Nakamoto’s disappearance in December 2010.
Initially containing 50 mined bitcoins, the Genesis wallet’s balance expanded over time, reaching 72 bitcoins by late 2023. Following the recent transaction, the current balance now stands at 99.67 bitcoins, equivalent to $4.3 million.
However, this represents a fraction of Nakamoto’s holdings. Estimates suggest Nakamoto controls up to 1.1 million bitcoins, presently valued at $47 billion—albeit existing only on paper.