January 12, 2024
By Anjali Kochhar
A user of Bitcoin (BTC) who wishes to remain anonymous has transferred 26.9 BTC, or $1.17 million, to the Genesis Wallet—the first wallet that Satoshi Nakamoto ever created on the network.
The transaction, which happened on January 5 at 1:52 a.m. Eastern Time, garnered notice because it was unique.
The fact that this transaction required transferring money from a depleted wallet to the Genesis wallet sets it apart from others.
Compared to the typical transaction cost, the $100 transaction fee that was associated with it is significantly greater.
The wallet was first funded by three different wallets, the majority of which came from a wallet connected to Binance on the blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence.
A director at Coinbase named Conor Grogan conjectured on X (previously Twitter) that the transaction would be the re-emergence of Nakamoto depositing Bitcoin from Binance or someone purposefully burning over $1 million.
Grogan went so far as to speculate that the anonymous transfer might have been a gimmick to promote a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
Funds from Nakamoto’s wallets, including the Genesis wallet, have not been transferred since his disappearance in December 2010.
Nakamoto might still be in charge of the money and keep the private keys to these wallets, though.
The first 50 bitcoins that were mined while Nakamoto was still alive were kept in the Genesis wallet.
Users all over the world celebrated Bitcoin’s 14th birthday by contributing BTC to the address holding the rewards for mining the genesis block.
By the end of 2023, the wallet had 72 bitcoins thanks to these gifts.
More Likely to Be a Group, Nakamoto
As previously reported, new research suggests that Nakamoto might potentially be a group of people.
The Bitcoin white paper uses both “we” and “I,” suggesting that a group of people might be working together under a single pseudonym. This is one piece of evidence.
A linguistic analysis of Nakamoto’s writings provides additional proof.
The white paper demonstrates flawless English with precise vocabulary and appropriate application of technical words.
However, Nakamoto’s writing style seems to fluctuate across emails and forums, indicating that more than one person was engaged.
Nakamoto’s mail’s timestamps also suggest that more than one person was involved.
Theories abound about where Nakamoto lived; some claim the creator of Bitcoin was based in the UK, while others discover he was in California.
According to an analysis titled “The Time Zones of Satoshi Nakamoto,” which examined Nakamoto’s hourly activities, Nakamoto most likely lived in the Eastern Standard Time (EST) zone.
The concept of many time zones being engaged would make sense if Nakamoto is, in fact, a group.
Another clue that Nakamoto might be a collective is the depth of expertise he demonstrated.
He was proficient in computer science, mathematics, game theory, has perfect English, and was effectively hiding his identity for more than ten years.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
