Dormant wallets awaken and transfer Millions

Plus, Ethereum gas fees hit record lows.

Author

Daniel Akpobare
August 12, 2024

 

GM Explorer,

Old Bitcoin wallets are making headlines again. This time, it’s wallets from 2013, and they’ve moved 250 BTC and 130 BTC, respectively!

Here’s what we got for you today:

  • 🤑 Dormant wallets awaken and transfer Millions!

  • 📉 Ethereum gas fees hit record lows!

  • 🧱 Around The Block: Bitcoin dominance skyrockets to a 3-year high as BTC maintains $60K (Weekend watch).

🤑 Dormant Wallets Awaken and Transfer Millions!

There seems to be a trend lately of long-dormant wallets suddenly springing back to life, and yes, another one just happened!

On August 7th, a wallet that had been inactive for 11 years and two months made a substantial move, transferring nearly 250 BTC to five new wallets.

The astonishing part?

This stash was originally earned through mining in 2010 when Bitcoin was worth less than $1, and now it's valued at over $14 million in 2024!

But hold up; there’s another one!

Just two days later, on August 9, another 130 BTC was moved from a 2013 wallet across 13 individual transactions. 

Oh, and as you may have guessed:

The sudden activity from these long-dormant addresses has raised eyebrows and sparked wild speculation.

One Reddit user speculates that it's either someone who has been released from jail or found his lost hard drive, while another thinks it could be one of Satoshi’s many burner wallets.

In a more daring speculation, another Reddit user believes that someone found out how to break into old wallets or wallets in general and focused on old wallets to avoid triggering authorities.

But who can really say for sure?🤷‍♀️ 

📉 Ethereum Gas Fees Hit Record Lows!

Ethereum gas fees have plummeted to a new record low—the lowest levels we've seen in years!

In fact, transactions on the blockchain have never been cheaper, and this is thanks to the surge in activity on Ethereum's Layer 2 networks.

Just a few days back, the average gas fee dropped below 1 Gwei before bouncing back to around 2 Gwei—which is still just $0.06!

Although some transactions might still go up to 5 Gwei ($0.22), overall, fees are down across the board.

And that's not all — even for layer 2 solutions like Optimism, Base, Linea, and Arbitrum, fees are under $0.01.

So, what's behind this trend? Well, it all goes back to the Dencun upgrade from March.

According to market analysts, this upgrade has significantly boosted Layer 2 transaction volumes due to the reduced fees.

In fact, some Layer 2 networks are processing more transactions per second than Ethereum itself - talk about an unexpected turn of events!

However, not everyone is celebrating.

That's because lower fees could also mean less ETH is being burned, which, according to some experts, could ultimately lead to a rise in Ethereum's supply.

In just the past day, only 120 ETH were burned, while the supply increased by over 2,500 ETH!

Honestly, If this trend continues, we could see Ethereum's supply jump by a whopping 943,000 ETH (that's $2.5 billion!) next year😮

On the flip side, Gnosis Co-Founder Martin Koppelman sees an opportunity here.

He's suggesting that Ethereum raises the gas limit, even with these low fees, to get more people using the base layer.

So, what do you think? Is this a smart move, or are we walking into a disaster waiting to happen?

You should check out all the details here!

🧱 Around The Block

That's all we've got for you today.

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Catch you soon.

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions.

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