Long-dormant wallets suddenly move millions in Bitcoin after 13 years

Two long-dormant Bitcoin (BTC) wallets recently moved a total of 2,000 BTC worth approximately $180 million after more than 13 years.

The coins had remained dormant since 2011 and 2012, when Bitcoin traded for less than $15 compared with today’s price of $90,106.33—marking their first on-chain activity in 13 years and 49 days.

Timechain Index founder Sani shared the transfers on X.

🚨🚨🚨 Two Casascius coins, each containing 1,000 BTC, have just moved after being dormant for more than 13 years. pic.twitter.com/nlFUy39MkD

— Sani | TimechainIndex.com (@SaniExp) December 5, 2025

Understanding Casascius crypto project

The BTC we're talking about belongs to wallets tied to the Casascius crypto project. Created by Utah-based entrepreneur Mike Caldwell beginning in 2011, the Casascius coins are physical collectibles containing embedded private keys.

Each physical coin, issued in denominations ranging from 1 to 1,000 BTC, had a public Bitcoin address. It contains a redeemable private key that is protected by a tamper-evident hologram.

Once the hologram is removed, it leaves a honeycomb pattern as proof of access. Some Casascius are advanced and have an encrypted private key. Owners of such collectibles must decrypt the private keys using a passphrase to redeem the Bitcoin.

Caldwell stopped producing pre-funded coins in late 2013 after the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) action over unregistered money transmitting.

The regulatory pressure effectively ended the Casascius project, leaving around 90,000 coins in circulation and most of them holding small amounts of BTC. Only a few were minted with 1,000 BTC.

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Understanding sudden Bitcoin movements

Such sudden Bitcoin movements from early-era addresses are rare, typically prompting speculation about intent, ownership or even access-recovery efforts.

It’s unclear whether the recent transfers were sales, internal reorganizations, or simply precautionary moves to preserve access.

Given the age of early hardware wallets, paper backups and physical bearer devices, the holders may be acting to secure long-term access to old keys.

For physical BTC collectibles, risks include hologram deterioration, material degradation or misplaced passphrases.

Related: Bernstein reveals new Bitcoin target amid market pullback