For more than 15 years, the giant Bitcoin warehouse believed to be owned by Satoshi Nakamoto has remained "inactive". However, observers believe that just a small transaction originating from these wallet addresses is enough to shake up the global cryptocurrency market...
Bitcoin was created in 2009 by a person (or group of people) named Satoshi Nakamoto.
To this day, Satoshi's true identity remains a mystery. Between 2009 and 2011, Satoshi is believed to have mined around 1.1–1.5 million Bitcoins, currently worth over $100 billion, which have never been moved.
This huge amount of Bitcoin was mined in the early days of the network, when Mining was very easy and few people participated.
Satoshi's silence over the past 15 years has made many people curious and come up with many hypotheses: some people think that the security keys have been lost, while others believe that Satoshi intentionally kept them intact to avoid disrupting the market.
But if this Bitcoin vault is activated one day, what will be the impact on price and market sentiment?
ANY TRADING CAN "SHAKE" THE CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKET
According to CoinTelegraph's forecast, the first reaction will likely be panic, followed by mass sell-offs and sharp fluctuations in Bitcoin prices.
In fact, the market has seen similar fluctuations. After the Mt. Gox exchange collapsed in 2014 due to repeated cyber attacks, the remaining Bitcoins – amounting to hundreds of thousands of coins – were sold or redistributed to creditors by the exchange’s managers.
The sudden increase in supply has caused Bitcoin prices to drop sharply in a short period of time. Because many people can XEM this as a sign of loss of confidence from the founder himself, shaking investor sentiment and making financial institutions more cautious with digital assets.
While others may XEM Satoshi's trading activity as proof of the network's vitality and autonomy.
If Satoshi decides to use this wealth to fund humanitarian initiatives or global projects, such an action could enhance his image as a pioneer for the common good.
However, if the move goes ahead without a clear purpose, it will fuel debate about whether Bitcoin is a constructive financial tool or a Chia force in the modern economy.
PREDICTIONS ON WHAT MAY HAPPEN TO SATOSHI'S BITCOIN TREASURE
Any transactions originating from wallet addresses believed to belong to Satoshi will appear on the public ledger (blockchain) and attract the attention of the entire market.
This can be exploited by bad guys, who will impersonate Satoshi's identity, spread fake news to manipulate the market or defraud investors.
Technically, a single transaction from Satoshi's old wallets wouldn't have a major impact on the network. But if investors panicked and started trading en masse, it could spike processing traffic, cause transaction fees to skyrocket, and cause network congestion in the short term.
Additionally, if Miners prioritize processing high-fee transactions associated with these wallets, it could lead to temporary centralization in mining activity, which goes against Bitcoin's decentralization principle.
In a worst-case scenario, the Bitcoin community may be forced to take drastic measures – such as proposing a chain Chia ( Fork) or protocol adjustments to mitigate the negative impact. However, such moves also carry the risk of causing controversy and deep Chia in the ecosystem.
In short, one of the possible scenarios for Satoshi Nakamoto’s “Bitcoin treasury” in the future is that Satoshi makes small transactions with a clear roadmap, the market may remain stable. Because this shows that he still believes in Bitcoin, and at the same time creates confidence for large investors without causing panic.
On the other hand, if all Bitcoins are sold at once, the market could be flooded with too much supply. Bitcoin prices would plummet, confidence in the market would be shaken, and a prolonged period of decline could follow.
If the Bitcoins remain untouched, the speculation will continue. The question of Satoshi’s true intentions will remain unanswered, while the market continues to function normally.
If Satoshi transferred Bitcoins and revealed his identity, it would be a game-changer for cryptocurrency. It could cement Bitcoin’s status, but it could also lead to a regulatory clampdown on the entire market.
