So-called “Crypto Twitter” was set ablaze today by an unusual 50 Bitcoin transaction made by a Satoshi-era wallet from 2009 that has been dormant for over a decade.
News of this initially led many to speculate that this could be the cryptocurrency’s elusive founder – Satoshi Nakamoto –moving his holdings, but later data suggests that this is not the case.
It now appears that it was likely an early miner or adopter who is moving this cryptocurrency, and one original Bitcoin developer is noting that there could be a whole host of suspects to whom the wallet could belong to.
It is important to note that the last time Bitcoin from this era moved, the cryptocurrency posted a 28% upswing in the two weeks following.
Satoshi-Era Bitcoin Moved This Morning Does Not Belong to the BTC Creator
The prospect of Satoshi Nakamoto moving his cryptocurrency is alarming, as it is estimated that he owns roughly 1 million BTC.
The unlikely sale of these tokens on the market could severely damage investor sentiment while also placing massive selling pressure on the benchmark cryptocurrency.
As such, many were relieved to learn that these tokens were not from Satoshi himself, and that there is a myriad of individuals who could have owned the 50 BTC.
Martti Malmi – an early Bitcoin developer who first discovered the cryptocurrency in April of 2009 – rebuked a report claiming that there are only a few people who could own the wallet.
“Nope. Bitcoin was announced on the cryptography mailing list in January 2009 and many people could have tested it. I found Bitcoin around April,” he explained.
If History Repeats, BTC Could See a Rally Following Today’s News-Related Selloff
News of these coins being moved quickly led Bitcoin’s price to decline to lows of $9,300 on BitMEX, marking a $500 decline from where it was trading at earlier in the day.
This appears to have been a notable overreaction to the news, which could mean BTC is poised to recover promptly.
One interesting trend seen in the past is that Bitcoin’s price has rallied after Satoshi-era coins are moved.
Avi Felman, an investor at BlockTower Capital, spoke about this in a recent tweet, explaining that BTC’s price rallied 28% in the two weeks following some 2009-era Bitcoin being moved in 2017.
“The last time coins this early moved, BTC sold off ~3% then rallied 28% over the next two weeks. Don’t sweat too much.”
Image Courtesy of Avi Felman
Of course, it’s impossible to say whether or not there is a causal link between the rally and the movement of the tokens, but it is possible that today’s selloff will trap some bears due to it being an unwarranted knee-jerk reaction to the news.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
