Old Bitcoin Wallet Reopens, Wins 42,000% Profit

JAKARTA - A Bitcoin (BTC) wallet that has long been inactive has been reactivated after more than 11 years. According to Whale Alert, the wallet containing 100 BTC came back to life on August 29. At the last time it was used in 2013, the wallet was only worth about 14,202 US Dollars (approximately Rp218 million), but now, its value has jumped more than 42,000%, to around 6.02 million US Dollars (approximately Rp97 billion).

This wallet reactivation surprised the crypto community, especially as the value of Bitcoin has continued to increase dramatically since its onset. If the wallet owner decides to sell his BTC today, an investment of 14,000 US Dollars invested more than a decade ago would result in a huge profit of about 6 million US Dollars.

Reactions from the crypto community also vary. Some users X (previously known as Twitter) expressed their admiration for the wallet owner's patience. Imagine holding back 100 BTC for more than a decade and seeing its value increase from 14k US Dollars to nearly 6 million US Doolars. This is the true definition of diamond hands, said one user.

However, there are also those who speculate whether the wallet owner feels sorry for not selling his Bitcoins when the price hit an all-time high of $73,798 earlier this year. If sold at that time, the BTC value could reach more than 7.3 million US Dollars (approximately Rp112 billion).

Interestingly, this isn't the first time in recent weeks an old Bitcoin wallet has been reactivated. On August 7, another wallet with 250 BTC worth nearly 14 million US Dollars was also revived after years of inactivity. This wallet is known to belong to an unknown miner who last used it in May 2010, with an initial value of only about 250 US Dollars (approximately IDR 3.8 million).

On August 17, another wallet containing 18 BTC was also reactivated after 10.3 years of inactivity. When the wallet reopened, the funds in it were worth about 1.091 million US Dollars (approximately IDR 16.8 billion), a significant increase from 9.204 US Dollars (approximately IDR 141 million) in 2014.

According to a report from the Chainalysis blockchain data platform in March 2024, it is estimated that there will be more than 1.7 million BTC addresses inactive for more than a decade. This period is often referred to as the "era Satoshi," referring to the mysterious name of the Bitcoin creator. Addresses from that era are generally associated with early Bitcoin miners or those who bought these coins when the price was very cheap.