On January 8, 2024, a crypto enthusiast sent a staggering $1.2 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to the first-ever address associated with Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. This mysterious transaction, occurring just days after the 15-year anniversary of the Bitcoin network, has left the crypto community perplexed and led to various speculations regarding its purpose.
The transaction involved an unidentified crypto wallet sending 27 Bitcoins, valued at $1.17 million at the time, to Nakamoto’s genesis wallet. Notably, this event unfolded shortly after withdrawing a similar amount from the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, as revealed by blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence.
The recipient address, linked to Nakamoto’s original “genesis” block mined on January 3, 2009, still retained the initial 50 BTC reward. Post this transaction, the wallet now holds nearly 100 BTC, equivalent to $4.5 million.
The timing of the transaction, occurring only two days after the 15th anniversary of the Bitcoin network’s inception, raised eyebrows within the crypto community. While it is not uncommon for users to send small amounts to the dormant genesis wallet to commemorate the network’s beginning, the substantial value of this particular transfer has triggered widespread speculation.
Conor Grogan, Director at Coinbase, suggested the possibility of either Satoshi waking up and depositing 27 Bitcoins from Binance or someone executing an enigmatic million-dollar transaction. Grogan hinted at the potential involvement of a marketing stunt related to a U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer, given the heightened anticipation surrounding its approval.
Jeremy Hogan, a partner at Hogan & Hogan law firm, proposed another theory, speculating that the transaction could be an effort to unveil Bitcoin’s creator by leveraging new U.S. tax rules. With taxpayers required to report crypto transactions exceeding $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this year, Hogan suggested the sender might be attempting to force Nakamoto’s identification.
Notably, the sending address had no transaction history before this event, according to Arkham data. Subsequently, it interacted with an address associated with Robinhood’s brokerage platform.
Market observers estimate Nakamoto’s total Bitcoin holdings at 1.1 million BTC, valued at almost $50 billion and distributed across numerous addresses. As of the recent market valuation, Bitcoin traded at approximately $45,000.
