A mysterious transaction involving a significant amount of Bitcoin (BTC) has left the crypto community puzzled. On January 5th, an unidentified crypto wallet sent 27 BTC, worth $1.17 million at the time, to the first-ever Bitcoin address associated with the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. This transaction occurred just days after the 15-year anniversary of the Bitcoin network’s inception.
The address that received the substantial payout is Nakamoto’s wallet, which mined the Bitcoin network’s inaugural “genesis” block on January 3rd, 2009. This wallet still holds the original 50 BTC reward, and after the recent transaction, it now contains nearly 100 BTC, valued at $4.5 million.
While it is not uncommon for users to send small amounts of Bitcoin to the genesis wallet to commemorate the network’s beginning, the large value of this transaction has sparked speculation about its purpose. Some have suggested that it could be a marketing stunt related to a potential approval of a U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The anticipation for such approval has been growing, and this transaction could be an attempt to generate attention and excitement.
Another theory put forward by Jeremy Hogan, a partner at law firm Hogan & Hogan, is that the transaction might be an effort to reveal Nakamoto’s identity by leveraging new U.S. tax rules. Starting this year, taxpayers in the U.S. are required to report any crypto transaction over $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Hogan suggests that the sender may be attempting to force Nakamoto to disclose their identity or risk breaking the law.
Interestingly, the wallet that sent the $1.2 million to Nakamoto’s address had no transaction history before this event. However, it later interacted with an address associated with the brokerage platform Robinhood’s hot wallet, adding another layer of mystery to the situation.
Market observers estimate that Nakamoto’s total Bitcoin holdings amount to 1.1 million BTC, valued at almost $50 billion, spread across multiple addresses. The recent price of BTC was around $45,000.
As the crypto community continues to speculate about the motives behind this transaction, the mystery surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto and their true identity remains unsolved.