About 20.43 bitcoin worth about $1.7 million was transferred from a bitcoin wallet that had shown no activity for nearly 15 years.

On Sept. 30 local time, blockchain outlet U.Today reported the wallet had been inactive since May 2011. Holdings believed to have been acquired at several dollars per coin were kept for a long period, grew into a large asset and then moved again.

Galaxy Research tallied that 20.43 bitcoin linked to the address moved in two transactions on Sept. 29. As long-dormant holdings held by early bitcoin owners have moved in succession, the transfer drew attention as another case of an old wallet resuming activity.

The transferred amount was split into 10.33 bitcoin and 10.10 bitcoin. The average acquisition price for the 10.33 bitcoin was estimated at $4 (about 5,400 won). The unrealised gain calculated using the price at the time of transfer was $872,000 (about 1.19 billion won), and the unrealised return reached 2,192,671 percent. The acquisition price for the remaining 10.10 bitcoin was estimated at $3 per coin (about 4,080 won), and the total unrealised gain for the two amounts combined was $1.724 million (about 2.35 billion won).

It was not confirmed whether the transfer was aimed at taking profit. Galaxy Research said it could not identify the sender and recipient, and the purpose of the transfer or whether ownership changed was not disclosed.

In September, transfers continued from bitcoin wallets that had not moved for 4 to more than 16 years. A representative case was a 600 bitcoin move that occurred on Sept. 5. Twelve wallets each holding 50 bitcoin ended more than 16 years of dormancy and moved simultaneously. The holdings were coins received as mining rewards in March 2010 and were worth $48 million (about 65.28 billion won) at the time of transfer.

When early bitcoin holdings move like this, possible links to Satoshi Nakamoto also draw attention. However, related analytics firms said they found no evidence that the 600 bitcoin belonged to Satoshi. That means it is difficult to identify an owner or link it to Satoshi based only on the fact that the mining date was long ago.

The amount that first moved from long-dormant wallets over five days in early September totalled about 626.74 bitcoin. A case was also confirmed in which eight wallets held since 2013 transferred 25 bitcoin each at intervals of about 25 seconds. From the 6th to the 22nd, a total of 1,971.03 bitcoin moved from four wallets that had been inactive for at least 10 years.

Activity was also detected resuming in older wallets. A wallet holding 10.25 bitcoin that had not moved since March 2011 was reactivated, and on the 19th, 100 bitcoin held since 2011 was transferred. It was worth $8.09 million (about 11 billion won) at the time. On the 22nd, 600 bitcoin worth $51.9 million (about 70.5 billion won) moved from a wallet that had been dormant since July 2012.

The succession of transfers from long-dormant holdings draws attention because it could lead to selling pressure in the market. But transfers between wallets alone cannot confirm actual selling. For the 20.43 bitcoin as well, no specific use was disclosed beyond the fact it was moved to a new address. What is currently confirmed is that long-dormant wallets resumed activity throughout September, and it appears further checks are needed on whether those holdings lead to actual selling.