The largest "Satoshi Nakamoto era" Bitcoin transfer in history: Should the market be cautious?

In the world of Bitcoin, there exists a special "holy grail" level: Bitcoin from the Satoshi Era, which refers to the Bitcoin that was mined or traded during the period from 2009 to 2011 when Satoshi Nakamoto was still active on the network. These coins are rarely moved, and a single move is enough to draw global market attention.

On July 4, 2025, the largest scale "Satoshi Nakamoto era Bitcoin transfer" quietly took place in crypto history.

80,000 Satoshis of BTC suddenly moved, worth over 8 billion dollars

On that day, eight Bitcoin wallets that had been dormant for over 14 years transferred 10,000 BTC each to new addresses, totaling 80,000 BTC, worth over 800 million USD at current prices.

Figure 1: This transfer record involves 80,000 BTC.

This batch of Bitcoin was received on April 3, 2011, when the price of Bitcoin was only $0.78, and now each BTC has exceeded $100,000, meaning that the Bitcoin on these addresses has appreciated over 13.9 million times. This transfer is the largest transfer of BTC from the 'Satoshi era' on record.

Figure 2: Bitcoin record received 14 years ago, involving 80,000 BTC

Why is this transfer receiving so much attention?

· Rare Scarcity: Bitcoin from the "Satoshi Nakamoto Era" is rarely moved, and this batch of coins has been a key focus for on-chain analysts and market observers monitoring the "whale indicator."

· Potential Selling Pressure and Market Expectations: When old addresses move BTC in large quantities, the market often worries whether it means "early holders will cash out." Although these BTC have not yet flowed into exchanges, this action may still impact market confidence.

· Adopting a modern format and not further transferred: This transfer was sent to a newly created wallet address, using a modern and lower fee address format (SegWit), indicating that the holder understands the current on-chain operation methods. However, these new wallets have not further withdrawn or deposited into exchanges to this day, and the identity of the holder remains a mystery.

· Private Key Security and Quantum Computing Speculation: There are views that this transfer may be related to private key leakage and quantum computing attack trials. The P2PK (Pay-to-Public-Key) addresses used in Bitcoin's early days expose the public key after the first transaction, which could theoretically be cracked if scalable quantum computers (using Shor's algorithm) become available in the future. However, those dormant wallets that have never been moved and have not exposed their public keys cannot be reverse-engineered even in the quantum era. This transfer involves wallets that are making their first outgoing transaction, and their public keys have never been disclosed historically, so the possibility of being cracked by quantum computing can basically be ruled out. This may explain why only some wallets have undergone transfers this time, and there has not been an entire sweeping, suggesting that it may only be a partial key test or a security migration.

Does this mean Bitcoin is going to crash?

Historically, large transfers of coins from the "Satoshi Nakamoto era" do not necessarily lead to sell-offs, but they usually bring market volatility and panic sentiment in the short term.

At the same time, it is important to note:

• This transfer uses the modern low-fee SegWit address format, indicating that the holder has the latest operational capabilities;
• The new address has not yet flowed into the exchange, and it may also just be for internal splitting management or security migration;
• If it enters the exchange in the future, it may create potential selling pressure, which is worth paying attention to;
• This incident also reminds the market to pay attention to quantum security issues.

Neil's View: The Rarity of BTC is Not Time, but the Belief of Its Holders

This "Satoshi Nakamoto era" large-scale transfer of BTC reminds us:

• The history of Bitcoin is shorter than any financial asset, but it has crystallized extreme value beliefs and supply constraints;
• The market may experience short-term fluctuations, but what truly affects the price of Bitcoin in the long run are global liquidity, institutional allocation demand, and the structural scarcity of BTC under decentralized financial architecture.
• For holders, the scarcest thing is not time, but the "belief that is not overwhelmed by emotions in the long term."