Bitcoin holdings attributed to the cryptocurrency's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, dropped nearly $5 billion in value on October 30 amid a broader market correction. The decline affected wallets untouched for over a decade, reducing their total value to $117 billion. Despite the loss, these holdings remain the largest individual stake in Bitcoin.
The crypto market experienced a significant correction on Thursday, October 30, wiping out billions in value across the sector. Among the hardest hit were the Bitcoin holdings believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic founder of the cryptocurrency. According to data from Arkham Intelligence, these holdings fell by almost $5 billion in a single day, bringing their fiat value down to $117 billion from a recent high of over $122 billion.
Satoshi Nakamoto is estimated to control roughly 1.1 million BTC, distributed across thousands of wallets that have remained dormant for more than a decade. On-chain data indicates that not a single satoshi—Bitcoin's smallest unit—has been moved from these addresses in the past 15 years, underscoring the founder's prolonged absence since going dark. This inactivity has fueled speculation about the potential impact if Satoshi ever reemerged and began transferring funds, which could immediately and significantly affect Bitcoin's price.
Even after the drop, Satoshi's stash represents more than 5% of Bitcoin's current supply, making it the largest individual holding by far. For context, the second-largest holder is MicroStrategy, led by Michael Saylor, with 640,808 BTC, or about 3% of the supply. Old and lost Bitcoin wallets play a crucial role in the asset's scarcity; estimates suggest 3 to 4 million BTC—14% to 19% of the total 21 million supply—are permanently inaccessible due to forgotten keys. Satoshi's untouched coins exemplify this dynamic, contributing to Bitcoin's perceived value as a finite resource.