FameEX Hot Topics | 1.71 Million BTC from 2009-2012 Block Rewards Still Inactive, Worth Over $100 Billion

Recently, a batch of five block rewards from 2009 was moved for the first time in almost two years, sparking renewed interest in what are often referred to as 'sleeping' bitcoins from the early days of Bitcoin. Since 2015, only 48 block rewards from Bitcoin's creation year have been spent. This rare event offers a chance to reflect on just how many of these early block rewards remain untouched to this day.

Over 1 Million Bitcoins From 2009 Remain Unspent, Plus Another 700,000 From 2010-2012 Block Rewards. Despite occasional activity in dormant Bitcoin (BTC) wallets, a substantial portion of Bitcoin's block rewards, also known as coinbase rewards, remain untouched. These rewards are the payouts miners receive for validating blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain. Following the recent movement of the 2009 blocks on September 20, 2024, bitbo.io data reveals that 1,074,352 BTC from 2009 coinbase rewards still remain unspent. A slightly different figure from timechainindex.com indicates 1,074,402 BTC are unspent, distributed across 21,488 addresses. These findings suggest that the majority of early Bitcoin block rewards are still inactive and untouched since their creation.

1.71 Million BTC From 2009-2012 Block Rewards Still Dormant, Worth Over $100 Billion. Many of these unspent coins were likely mined by Bitcoin's enigmatic creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, but not all can be attributed to him. For instance, bitbo.io data shows that 578,483 BTC from 2010 remain dormant, currently valued at $36.5 billion. Timechainindex.com presents a nearly identical figure, with 578,740 BTC still unspent from 2010, spread across 11,598 inactive wallets. These unspent 2010 coins account for approximately 2.92% of Bitcoin's total supply. Interestingly, on September 22, 2024, one wallet created on July 14, 2010, became active, spending a coinbase reward containing 50 BTC.

The 2011 block rewards show similar inactivity. Bitbo.io indicates that 45,387 BTC from 2011 remain unspent, while timechainindex.com reports 47,843 BTC across 3,089 addresses. These coins represent about 0.24% of Bitcoin's total supply. For block rewards mined in 2012, bitbo.io records 11,113 BTC unspent, while timechainindex.com lists 11,514 BTC spread across 1,928 wallets.

It’s becoming increasingly rare to see bitcoins from the 2009-2012 era become active, as these wallets tend to remain dormant. In contrast, wallets created between 2013 and 2017 have shown more frequent activity, with blockchain analysis tools detecting their movements more often. Altogether, approximately 1.71 million BTC from the 2009-2012 period remain unspent, amounting to about $108.2 billion. This dormant cache represents roughly 8.73% of Bitcoin's total market capitalization, which currently stands at $1.24 trillion.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this section is for informational purposes only, doesn't represent any investment advice or FameEX's official view.