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A wallet long associated with Bitcoin’s elusive founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, just received 2.565 BTC, worth over $150,000. Several analysts and DeFi researchers on X, among them 0xNobler, flagged the unusual transfer.
That speculation ranged from theories that Satoshi may still be alive to suggestions that the transaction was merely a symbolic tip sent to the creator’s untouched BTC stash.
While optimists have been reading deeply into the transfer, their excitement has been tempered by warnings that the transaction doesn’t prove Satoshi Nakamoto is active, only that his address received funds.
X users say the BTC transaction was a digital offering or a tribute
The BTC funds were sent to 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa, the address that still holds Bitcoin’s original 50 BTC genesis block reward from January 3, 2009. The wallet now contains around 57 BTC, worth roughly $4 million at current prices near $71,000.
Some X users have taken the transaction as a sign that Satoshi is still active. Discussing the transaction on X, DeFi researcher 0xNobler also asked whether it could mean that Satoshi is still alive and actively buying Bitcoin. Nonetheless, sending BTC does not require the recipient’s involvement, meaning the deposit could happen without Satoshi having to act.
While deposits to wallets associated with Satoshi are rare, they are not unheard of. Crypto enthusiasts sometimes sent small amounts of BTC to addresses associated with Satoshi as symbolic gestures honoring the anonymous inventor. In most cases, the value of these contributions is negligible—just a few satoshis or a few dollars worth. However, sending a six-figure sum like $150,000 in BTC is far from subtle, leaving open the question of who sent the amount and why.
Crypto analyst StarPlatinum shared that he believes the transaction was either a tribute or a burn. A theory many users supported, describing it as “throwing Bitcoin into the void,” “a digital offering,” or “respect paid to the origin of the network.”
Some commentators on X also offered more cynical, often humorous interpretations, arguing that the transfer was a deliberate act of destruction. X user CaffeSatoshi remarked, “For every Bitcoin destroyed, the rest become more valuable.”
There have been similar BTC transactions in the past few years
This is not the first time a cryptic Bitcoin transaction has been linked — whether or not definitively — to Satoshi Nakamoto. Earlier, Bitcoiners were startled when 50 BTC mined in February 2009 were moved after 11 years of inactivity in May 2020, sparking rumors on the internet that Satoshi was back. But blockchain experts found that the coins did not fit the “Patoshi pattern”, ruling out Satoshi and suggesting another early miner. Put simply, someone other than Satoshi from Bitcoin’s early days spent their long-held BTC.
Furthermore, just 2 days after Bitcoin’s 15th birthday in January 2024, an unknown sender sent 26.92 BTC to a Genesis address. From a dormant Binance-linked wallet, the move erased about $1 million from circulation. Back then, some believed the sender transferred the assets, intending to flush Satoshi out.
Moreover, in June 2025, Arkham Intelligence spotted a small transfer of 0.185 BTC – around $20,000 – into Satoshi’s wallet. Some $200,000 in BTC had also been sent to the same address a few months earlier.
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