Someone just threw $20,000 into the digital equivalent of a black hole — an untouched Bitcoin address belonging to the Satoshi Nakamoto.
The transfer, made June 30 to Nakamoto's original wallet address, adds to the $117 billion in Bitcoin that's been frozen there since 2011, when Bitcoin's inventor disappeared without a trace.
The $20,000 is one of many puzzling one-way transfers to this dead-end address. Some appear to be costly mistakes — wrong digits entered during exchange withdrawals. Others might be intentional tributes, like digital flowers left at a crypto shrine. In February, someone sent $200,000 worth of Bitcoin to Nakamoto's wallet after withdrawing funds from Binance. "A $1.17 million transfer occurred one year ago from address bc1***6v2," reports Crypto News, "representing the largest single donation on record. This was followed by smaller amounts, including $67,790 two years ago and $41,670 three years ago."
Previously:
• HBO Bitcoin documentary claims to unmask Satoshi Nakamoto
• UK judge: Craig Wright is a technobabbling liar and forger, not as clever as he thinks he is, and also not Satoshi Nakamoto
• UK judge rules Craig Wright is not Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto
• Watch this loud contraption shake coins to create unhackable crypto wallets
