Mystery Transfer — Unidentified Wallet Sends $1.19 Million in Bitcoin to Satoshi Nakamoto’s Genesis Address

Two days after Bitcoin’s 15th anniversary, an unidentified wallet transferred roughly 26.917 bitcoin, valued at $1.19 million, into Satoshi Nakamoto’s Genesis wallet. Originating on Jan. 3, 2009, this wallet has primarily accumulated nominal dust transactions. Including the hard-coded block reward, minor dust transactions, and the recent 26.917 bitcoin deposit, the total now stands at 99.676 bitcoin, equivalent to $4.35 million.

Satoshi’s Genesis Wallet Receives $1.19 Million Boost: A Cryptic Bitcoin Anniversary Gift

An anonymous sender dispatched $1.19 million in bitcoin (BTC) to the “1A1zP” wallet of Satoshi Nakamoto. Originating from the “bc1q9” address, this substantial sum of 26.917 BTC was confirmed at block height 824,513. The motivation behind sending these funds to the Genesis wallet remains a mystery, especially considering the funds have become non-spendable.

The genesis block occupies a distinctive position as the inaugural block of the Bitcoin blockchain. Its 50 BTC mining reward is frozen due to not being included in the unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) set, a peculiarity stemming from the initial coding. This outcome wasn’t necessarily deliberate but rather an artifact of the original code structure.

In the Bitcoin network, spending entails crafting a transaction that cites specific UTXOs as inputs. Absent from the UTXO set, the genesis block’s reward remains unspendable. Despite this, the wallet has continued to receive BTC over the past 15 years, including dust transactions and onchain messages, though none have matched the magnitude of the 26.917 BTC sent on Jan. 5, 2023.

The individual’s intent may have been to influence or shift market sentiment amidst a bullish phase as the community anticipates the decision on a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The BTC transfer is likely not related to Satoshi Nakamoto at all, and perhaps it served as a costly beacon for attention.

In a conversation with the founder of btcparser.com who discovered the transfer, he highlighted, “In the world of Bitcoin, incoming transactions are not proof, but outgoing transactions are.” What’s interesting about this peculiar transfer is the fact that the “1A1zP” address is fundamentally incapable of initiating outbound transfers, anchored by the protocol’s foundational rules.

What do you think about the 26.917 bitcoin sent to the Genesis wallet on Jan. 5? Why do you think someone would do that? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.