Bitcoin experienced a significant price increase in July 2024, reaching $67,872 per coin. During this time, a dormant bitcoin address that was created in 2017 transferred 121.63 BTC, now valued at $8.25 million, after more than seven years of inactivity. This transfer was identified by btcparser.com’s Bitcoin blockchain parser at block height 854,349, marking the first movement of funds from this address in over seven years.
The dormant Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) legacy wallet was initially created on April 9, 2017, when the price of bitcoin was $1,187 per unit. The value of the 121.63 BTC has increased by 5,617.94% from $144,374.81 in 2017 to over $8.25 million in 2024. The bitcoin received on April 9, 2017, was sent to the user in two transactions, one for 71.63 BTC and another for 50 BTC. The funds were dispersed in the same manner, using two transactions for identical amounts, and were divided into multiple Bech32 or Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH) wallets.
Although 2017 is not considered a vintage year in terms of bitcoin activity, it still represents a seven-year period before the user decided to move these coins for the first time in July 2024. During this month, around 15 different dormant bitcoin addresses from the 2017 era became active after seven years of inactivity. The total amount transferred in July was 529.04 BTC, with 14 transfers totaling 407.41 BTC acquired in 2017 and the fifteenth transaction consisting of the 121.63 BTC.
Many 2017 bitcoin addresses were unprofitable towards the end of that year and during 2018-2019. However, individuals who held onto their coins through another bull run in 2021 chose to wait until July 2024 to transfer their funds. It is unclear whether these coins are being sold or merely moved to new addresses, but as the price of bitcoin surpasses its previous all-time high, it is expected that more dormant bitcoin wallets will begin to activate. In conclusion, the transfer of 121.63 BTC from a dormant 2017 address in July 2024 highlights the long-term investment strategy of some bitcoin holders and the potential for increased activity in dormant bitcoin wallets as prices continue to rise.
