Two 2010 Bitcoin Addresses Reactivate With 100 BTC Worth $6.89M

By Marcus Bennett

Two dormant Bitcoin addresses holding 100 BTC worth about $6.89 million became active within minutes on November 13, 2026, according to Whale Alert, which assigned each address a 16.2-year dormancy period.

The addresses date to 2010. Each held 50 BTC. Whale Alert identified “two addresses with matching 50 BTC balances and the same reported dormancy period of 16.2 years.” Its activation-time estimates were $3,442,939 for the first and $3,442,129 for the second.

The first address transferred BTC worth about $3.4 million. The second registered activity, described only as an activation. The report was published at 06:56:49 UTC and placed both events before publication, with the first address already having moved BTC. U.Today reported that its full 50 BTC holding had been worth just $3 in Bitcoin’s early days.

What does the activation change for early holders?

The immediate fact is operational. Two addresses from Bitcoin’s first years are active again. No owner has been identified. The report does not show whether one party controls both or connect either to Satoshi Nakamoto. It also does not establish why the coins moved.

For an early holder, what changes is the recorded return of long-held coins to on-chain activity. The 2010 dates place the pair in the period commonly called the Satoshi era. Age alone does not establish a mining origin, shared control or a Nakamoto connection.

Why do the 50 BTC balances matter?

Bitcoin came into existence in January 2009. Miners initially received 50 BTC per block. The reward stayed at 50 BTC until the first halving in November 2012. Bit2Me News documented 50 BTC miner rewards in 2009.

The addresses date from the following year, when Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still active in network development and the network had relatively few miners and users. Their balances match the original reward size. That gives the amounts historical context, not evidence of a direct connection to Nakamoto.

How does this compare with October’s activity?

Whale Alert tracked several older Bitcoin addresses during October 2026. Their balances and dormancy periods varied.

• October 17: Activity involved addresses holding 248 BTC and 167 BTC, worth about $20.24 million and $13.65 million, respectively.
• October 20: A 500 BTC address became active after 10.7 years. Its holding was reported at $41.54 million, compared with a valuation of $194,955 in 2016.
• October 22: A 170 BTC address became active after 13 years, with a reported value of roughly $14.38 million.

Arkham later linked the October 20 addresses to Clifton Collins, a convicted Irish drug dealer, whose crypto holdings had previously been considered inaccessible. The 500 BTC balance was 10 times either November address and five times their combined 100 BTC. That comparison concerns coins, not dollar values assigned on different dates.

The October cases ranged from 167 BTC to 500 BTC per address. The November pair was smaller, but older and identical in size.

What happened to an earlier 4,000 BTC wallet?

A separate 2025 case involved the address “18eY9o.” It held 4,000 BTC worth approximately $446 million. After more than 14 years without activity, it transferred 150 BTC, valued at around $16.6 million, to a new cryptocurrency address. The account distinguished the total balance from the smaller amount moved.

Arkham Intelligence traced the wallet’s creation to 2009 and identified its coins as mined that year. By 2011, the funds had been concentrated in a single address. They remained there without recorded movement until the reactivation. Lookonchain also highlighted the wallet’s return.

The owner’s motive remained uncertain. The account listed “reorganization of funds” and “recovery of the wallet by its original owner or relatives” as possible explanations. Bitcoin community figure Nicholas Gregory suggested that some early holders could be moving coins to more secure addresses because of concerns about “future quantum attacks.” These interpretations do not establish control of the November addresses. Nor do they explain why those addresses activated.

What did the market backdrop show?

CoinGecko recorded Bitcoin down 6.04% over 24 hours on November 13. The token traded at $69,038 at 07:21:54 UTC. Earlier, at 06:23:43 UTC, The Block reported Bitcoin below $69,000.

Crypto liquidations totaled $798 million over the preceding four hours. That included $718.5 million in long positions. The Block cited Nvidia turmoil and jitters surrounding the Federal Reserve. The supplied reporting did not link those liquidations to either dormant address.

A separate corporate financing development showed the pressure from falling Bitcoin collateral. The Defiant reported that the company Nakamoto had pushed a 60 million USDT payment on its Kraken debt into 2027. It also gained credit for protective derivatives. Collateral requirements nevertheless continued to allow earlier liquidation, leaving that condition relevant before the deferred payment came due.

The next dated checkpoint is Nakamoto’s deferred 60 million USDT payment in 2027; the two November address activations still have no confirmed owner or motive.