Old Bitcoin Rises Again This March, Transaction Reaches IDR 4.2 Trillion

JAKARTA - March 2024 is a special month for Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency with the largest market value in the world. The reason is, this month, many Bitcoins have not moved or been called Bitcoin Sleeping or Bitcoins that have been asleep for a long time, are active and transacted again. The total value of these old bitcoin transactions reached IDR 4.2 trillion (USD 283 million).

The Bitcoin comes from the period 2010 to 2017, which has never been moved or spent since it was created. These Bitcoins usually come from block prizes given to Bitcoin miners every time they manage to complete a block. Block prizes are reduced once every four years, in a process known as halling day.

Half day is one of the factors driving the increase in Bitcoin prices, as it reduces the supply of new Bitcoins entering the market. In April 2024, a fourth half-day will occur, which will cut block prizes from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. This is expected to increase Bitcoin demand and value in the future.

However, before the half-day happened, the old Bitcoin had started moving first. According to data from Bitcoin.com News, in the first week of March 2024, a large crypto asset holder transferred 1,000 BTC from 20 different 2010 wallets, when the Bitcoin price hit a record high of IDR 1.085 billion (69.210 US dollars) per chip. Earlier this month, the same entity also moved 2,000 BTC from a 2010 block prize. This is the largest expenditure from Bitcoin in 2010 throughout 2024.

In addition, there are also 1,237,73 BTC removed from wallets dating from 2011 to 2017, which have also never experienced activity since its creation. This wallet started moving when the price of Bitcoin remained above the level of IDR 940 million (US$60,000) per piece. In particular, 150.06 BTC from a 2011 block reward reactivated in March, with two such transactions taking place on March 6, 2024. Other transactions from 2011 coincided with the same day when big crypto asset holders transferred 1,000 coins.

Meanwhile, no transactions from 2012 have been recorded so far this month, but Bitcoin, which has been inactive since 2013, as much as 588.05 BTC, has been mobilized. There are only 50 BTCs from 2014 that have been transacted, concurrently with 150 BTCs from 2015 wallets that appeared this month, while only 12.66 BTCs from 2016 have emerged. At the same time, 286.95 BTCs from 2017 wallets were transacted for the first time since they were created.

It is important to explain that the use of the term spended' in this article does not mean these coins are directly sold or traded in the market. This simply shows that the original wallet has been making these coin transactions for the first time since the creation, with the assets now in completely different wallets.

The motivation behind this movement could vary, with some original holders perhaps selling their assets to realize profits, while others may transfer them to consolidate ownership or migrate to safer or modern wallets. However, this long inactive Bitcoin activity raises curiosity among communities about the timing of this decision-making. With a total of 4,237.73 BTC moving, March became the month for the rise of a long-sleeping old Bitcoin.