A Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) wallet that had remained untouched for over 13 years moved 2,100 BTC worth $147.7 million on Friday, with the original July 2012 purchase price of just $13,685 representing a 10,000x return.

The 13-Year Hold

The transfer was initiated at 10:27 a.m. UTC Friday, with blockchain explorer Mempool data showing the transaction consolidated multiple UTXOs into a new output at the same “1NB3Z” address. 

Someone sent a small amount to a secondary address, potentially taking advantage of the current low-fee environment.

The address initially received the 2,100 BTC on Independence Day, July 4, 2012, when that amount was worth approximately $13,685. 

The wallet continued to receive numerous minor transactions in the intervening period but never moved the original 2,100 BTC until now.

The on-chain analytics platform Arkham shows that the 2,100 BTC have not been transferred further and remain unlabeled. The reason for the transfer and the wallet owner’s identity remain unknown.

Legacy Address Format

Starting with a 1, these legacy Pay-to-PubKey-Hash (P2PKH) addresses are the oldest style of Bitcoin addresses. 

More modern formats include Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH) addresses starting with 3, native SegWit (P2WPKH) addresses starting with bc1q, and Taproot (P2TR) addresses starting with bc1p.

The owner seems content to retain the funds under the older address format despite newer options offering improved efficiency and lower fees.

Rising OG Whale Activity

OG Bitcoin wallets have ramped up activity in recent months both before and after Bitcoin’s all-time high of around $126,000 in October 2025.

Last July, Galaxy Digital sold off more than 80,000 BTC valued at over $9 billion for a Satoshi-era investor related to estate planning requirements. 

The holder moved the funds for the first time in 14 years ahead of the sale.

On Wednesday, a Bitcoin whale that accumulated 5,000 BTC about 13 years ago resumed selling, offloading another 1,000 BTC worth roughly $71.6 million. 

Separately, early Bitcoin investor Owen Gunden sold another 650 BTC worth about $46.3 million Wednesday, adding to prior disposals totaling roughly 11,000 BTC or more than $1 billion.

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