Is Satoshi Coming Back? Satoshi’s Genesis Wallet gets $1.2 Million, Inscribes Data Onto Bitcoin

Published January 8, 2024 9:30 AM

By Teuta Franjkovic

Did Satoshi just trasferred $1.2M to his Genesis wallet? | Credit: Janos Kummer/Getty Images

Key Takeaways

A significant amount of Bitcoin was transferred to Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet.
Encrypted data inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Ordinals protocol used for non-traditional Bitcoin usage.

The cryptocurrency community on Twitter was abuzz with excitement after an anonymous Bitcoin holder transferred Bitcoin (BTC), valued at $1.2 million, to the Genesis Wallet.

This particular wallet address on the Bitcoin network is famously associated with Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic and pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.

$1.17 Million Transaction Revives Interest in Satoshi’s Wallet

The transaction, which took place on January 5, involved moving 26.9 Bitcoin, worth approximately $1.17 million at the time. Notably, the sender paid $12 in transaction fees for this transfer.

Transferring funds to a wallet address linked to Nakamoto is, generally speaking, irreversible. They have not utilized their Bitcoin holdings since the inception of the cryptocurrency more than 15 years ago.

The Genesis Wallet, which originated with Bitcoin’s network and contained an initial 50 Bitcoin from the very first mined block (the Genesis Block), has remained untouched in terms of spending. As of the latest report, this wallet now holds a total of 99.7 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $4.4 million.

This recent and unusual transaction of sending a large sum to the Satoshi-linked wallet has ignited speculation on social media. One theory comes from crypto attorney Jeremy Hogan, who suggested this transfer might be part of a strategy to reveal Nakamoto’s identity, especially in light of the new cryptocurrency tax regulations affecting American residents.

Someone just sent Satoshi's genesis wallet $1.2 mil. in BTC.

Why?? The only thing that makes any sense is that the sender is flushing Satoshi out.

Under the new IRS rules, you have to report any receipt of crypto over $10k. So, Satoshi has to dox himself, OR break the law. pic.twitter.com/S4vBkSdX21

— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) January 7, 2024

Satoshi Nakamoto’s Return or IRS-Inspired Reveal?

Hogan’s theory presumes that Satoshi Nakamoto is American and, therefore, subject to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations. However, this assumption may not be true. If Nakamoto is not based in the United States, the IRS would have no jurisdiction over their actions. This adds another layer of complexity to the speculation and highlights the challenges in making definitive assertions about the identity and motivations of the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.

Some commentators have speculated that Nakamoto might have reemerged. They suggest Bitcoin’s founder could have bought $1.2 million worth of BTC on Binance before transferring it to their original, historically significant, wallet.

Either Satoshi woke up, bought 27 bitcoin from Binance, and deposited into their wallet, or someone just burned a million dollars pic.twitter.com/w34kjnAHPJ

— Conor (@jconorgrogan) January 6, 2024

Anonymous Wallet Inscribes Encrypted Data on Bitcoin Blockchain

Be it as it may, the saga isn’t over. Last weekend, an anonymous wallet has conducted a total of 332 transactions. Its holder spent approximately 1.5 BTC, valued around $66,000, to inscribe nearly 9 megabytes of encrypted data onto the Bitcoin blockchain.

BREAKING: Someone just spent >1 BTC to inscribe 8.93 MB of raw binary data into Bitcoin.

Can anybody decode it to find out what it is?

→ https://t.co/PAaKCWVDus pic.twitter.com/wIpOsgwmhF

— Ord.io (@ord_io) January 6, 2024

The costs of these transactions varied significantly, with the most expensive ones incurring fees amounting to thousands of dollars each. However, the majority of the transactions were closer to $200. Despite the significant financial outlay for these transactions, the content of the data remains a mystery. It is encrypted and has not yet been decrypted for public viewing or analysis.

The account of Ordinals explorer Ord.io on X posted about this significant inscription of encrypted data onto the Bitcoin blockchain.

The inscription of encrypted data was facilitated by the Ordinals protocol, a system that assigns data to individual satoshis, the smallest denomination of Bitcoin. Ordinals are often utilized for storing art directly on the blockchain, but they can also be used for various types of data, including encrypted text.

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About the Author

Teuta Franjkovic

Teuta is a seasoned writer and editor with more than 15 years of experience. She has expertise in covering macroeconomics and technology as well as the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. She has worked for several publications as a journalist and editor, including Forbes, Bloomberg, CoinTelegraph, Coin Rivet, CoinSpeaker, VRWorld and Arcane Bear. Teuta began her professional career in 2005, working as a lifestyle writer at Cosmopolitan in Croatia. From there, she branched out to several other publications, covering mainly business and the economy. She then turned her attention to the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain, believing that crypto is among the most important inventions in the history of humanity. Her involvement in fintech began in 2014 and she has since lent her expertise in writing, editing and gathering information about the world of crypto, blockchain, NFTs and Web3. An all-round news hound, mentor, editor, and writer, Teuta enjoys teamwork and good communication. She holds a WSET2 diploma and has a thing for chablis, punkrock music and shoes. She also holds a double MA in Political science and Entrepreneurship.

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