More than $8 billion worth of Bitcoin, originating from the network's earliest days, colloquially known as the “Satoshi era,” were moved on Friday in what constitutes the largest such transfer on record. This significant event involved two wallets that had remained dormant for over 14 years, each transferring 10,000 BTC to new addresses around early Friday. These coins were initially received on April 3, 2011, when Bitcoin was valued at a mere 78 cents. At current prices, the transferred BTC from each wallet is now worth over $1.1 billion, representing an astounding appreciation of more than 13.9 million percent.

The original source of these funds was identified as wallet “1HqXB…gDwcK,” which distributed 23,377.83 BTC to three distinct wallets in 2011. Two of these, “12tLs…xj2me” and “1KbrS…AWJYm,” held the bulk of the funds until this week’s transfer. The third wallet, which received 3,377 BTC, had already moved its funds in 2011. The transferred Bitcoin was subsequently sent to fresh wallets utilizing a modern, lower-fee address format. As of Saturday morning in Asia, neither of these new wallets has moved the funds further, and the identity of the wallet owner remains unknown.

Adding to the magnitude of the transfers, on-chain analysis firm Arkham reported late Friday that an additional six wallets moved over 10,000 Bitcoin in quick succession, amounting to over $8.6 billion at current prices. Arkham indicated that the same entity appears to own all of these wallets. These additional Bitcoin holdings were moved into their original wallets on either April 2 or May 4, 2011, meaning they too had been held for over 14 years.

All of the moved coins belong to the rarest class of BTC: those mined or transacted during the “Satoshi era,” a period loosely defined from Bitcoin’s launch in 2009 through 2011, when its pseudonymous creator was still actively involved online. Wallets from this historical period are considered a part of crypto’s 'holy grail,' rarely seeing activity and often closely monitored by traders for potential market signals. Any large-scale sales from such wallets could be interpreted as an early believer or miner altering their stance on the market, potentially influencing sentiment and prices.