Unemployed for 14 Years, Suddenly Transfers IDR 144 Trillion: How is This Possible?

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Last year, a peculiar Bitcoin transaction became a public talking point. It wasn’t an ordinary transaction, but rather the largest transfer in history.

A total of 80,000 BTC, worth US$8.6 billion (IDR 144 trillion) at the time, had been dormant for 14 years. These thousands of Bitcoins originated from eight wallets that had been inactive since 2011.

The transfer was divided into several transactions, each involving 10,000 BTC. At that time, Bitcoin was trading below US$4 per coin, a period known as the Satoshi era. The amount of Bitcoin transferred surpassed the previous record of ‘only’ 3,700 BTC.

“This is the largest single-day movement of coins aged 10 years or older in history,” said CryptoQuant’s head of research, Julio Moreno, as quoted by Tech Spot on Wednesday (February 25, 2026).

Several observers have suggested that the transfer could indicate a change in ownership, potentially moving to newer wallet addresses, or possibly a security breach.

However, Coinbase Director Conor Grogan stated that it is unlikely that the 80,000 BTC transfer was due to a hack. He suggested that it could be a test of private keys to see if they can still be accessed.

“It’s unlikely that US$8 billion in BTC has been hacked or that private keys have been compromised,” he said.

However, if it was indeed a hack, it could be the largest theft ever.

“If true [again, I’m speculating], this would be the largest theft in human history,” Grogan said.

Tech Spot also stated that there is no evidence that the Bitcoin was sold or moved. Arkham Intelligence suggested that it is likely that the addresses were upgraded from an older format to a newer, more secure format.