About 100 bitcoin mined when the cryptocurrency traded for only a few cents moved on Wednesday after remaining untouched for more than 16 years. The coins, worth roughly $6 when they were received in July 2010, had a market value of about $8.5 million at current prices, according to CoinDesk’s review of Bitcoin transactions.
A small 2010 holding becomes a multimillion-dollar asset
The 100.02 BTC was sent to an address on July 30, 2010. Blockchain records show that the coins stayed there until a transaction was confirmed at 18:52 UTC on Wednesday.
Galaxy Research, the research arm of cryptocurrency financial-services firm Galaxy Digital, was the first to flag the movement on X. The transaction divided the holding between two destinations: 10 BTC went to one address and about 90.02 BTC went to another. Both amounts were still unspent when CoinDesk checked on Thursday morning.
Bitcoin’s historical price was around 6 cents when the address received the coins, according to data from StatMuse. That would have put the holding’s market value at approximately $6 at the time. The comparison measures the change in the coins’ market value; it does not show what the holder paid or whether the bitcoin was later sold.
Public blockchain records identify the movement of the coins but do not reveal who controls the receiving addresses. They also provide no indication that the holder intends to sell.
Why dormant bitcoin attracts attention
Bitcoin holdings that have remained untouched for many years often draw scrutiny because a transfer can show that coins once considered potentially lost are still accessible. A successful transaction demonstrates that someone retained the ability to spend them, although it does not establish whether that person is the original owner.
The address involved in this transfer had not been completely inactive. It had previously spent 200 BTC across two transactions in August 2015, another 100 BTC in December 2017 and 249 BTC in March 2018. The specific 100.02 BTC received in July 2010, however, remained unspent during that period.
Bitcoin’s transaction system records incoming payments separately. This means a wallet or address can spend one set of received coins while leaving another untouched. These individual unspent payments are known as unspent transaction outputs, or UTXOs. The structure explains how an address can show activity while particular coins remain dormant for years.
Galaxy Research said on X that the address had been “somewhat active in the past,” but that the specific coins being tracked had not moved since 2010.
The coins date to Bitcoin’s early mining era
CoinDesk traced the 100.02 BTC directly to two mining rewards created in July 2010. One reward contained 50 BTC and the other contained 50.02 BTC, including fees.
At that time, miners received 50 newly created bitcoin for adding a block of transactions to the blockchain. Mining refers to the process in which computers compete to validate and add new blocks to Bitcoin’s public ledger.
The coins were created during what is commonly called Bitcoin’s “Satoshi era,” referring to the period when the cryptocurrency’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still active. Their age alone does not demonstrate any connection to Nakamoto or to Bitcoin’s creator.
The latest transfer is also much smaller than some other movements involving early bitcoin. Galaxy confirmed in July 2025 that it had sold more than 80,000 BTC for an early investor as part of an estate-planning strategy. In contrast, the current blockchain records show a transfer, not a confirmed sale.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data at 21:33 Tehran time on October 8, 2026, put Bitcoin at $81,622.80. The cryptocurrency was down 1.97% over the previous 24 hours and 3.45% over seven days.
Other assets tracked by Moneyiar were also lower:
- Toshi was priced at $0.0001110948, down 2.97% in 24 hours and 8.91% over seven days.
- Loaded Lions stood at $0.0013749969, down 4.57% over 24 hours and 10.93% over seven days.
- Notcoin traded at $0.0004370509, down 4.18% over 24 hours and 10.32% over seven days.
The market figures provide a snapshot of prices and performance at the stated time. They do not establish whether the newly moved bitcoin has entered the market or affected its price.
