Dormant 2011 Bitcoin Wallet Awakens, Moves 100 BTC Worth $8.5M

In a remarkable on-chain event, a 14-year-old Bitcoin wallet that had been inactive since 2011 suddenly sprang to life. The wallet, known as “12znK,” executed a 100 BTC transaction, transferring the funds—now worth approximately $8.5 million—to four separate addresses.

Bitcoin on the Move After 14 Years

The transaction occurred at block height 889,103, where the funds were migrated from an old Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) wallet to more modern Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH) addresses. The 100 BTC was evenly distributed among four new wallets, each receiving 24.99 BTC. Interestingly, the wallet’s associated 100 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), worth $32,460, remains untouched.

A Wallet from Bitcoin’s Early Days

The 12znK wallet was originally created on August 2, 2011, when Bitcoin was still in its infancy. At the time, it received its first deposit of just 1 BTC. Less than two weeks later, on August 14, 2011, another 99 BTC was added.

Back then, Bitcoin was trading at around $13.09 per BTC, but the price later dipped to $10.13 when the second transaction occurred. The wallet’s total holdings at the time were worth $1,015.96—a figure that even dropped to $425 by the end of 2011 due to market fluctuations.

Fast forward to 2025, and that same stash of BTC is now worth a staggering $8.5 million—an 836,493% return on investment.

Onchain Privacy & the Mystery Holder

According to Blockchair’s privacy assessment tool, the transaction received a 50/100 privacy score, mainly due to its swept transaction structure and repetitive input addresses. This suggests that while the owner took some steps to enhance privacy, certain elements of the transfer could still be tracked.

Dormant Bitcoin wallets from 2009 remain the ultimate prize for blockchain sleuths, but wallets from 2010-2012 are becoming increasingly rare in today’s markets.