“Satoshi Era” Bitcoin Moved for the First Time in 13 Years — Bitcoin Mining Landscape Overview | by Lumerin Protocol | Lumerin Blog | Dec, 2023

Data, trends, and insights in the Bitcoin mining industry

Key takeaways:

• Bitcoin Developer Calls Inscriptions ‘Spam,’ Community Members Push Back
• Early Bitcoin Miner Apparently Sent 1,000 ‘Satoshi Era’ BTC to Trading Desks This Week
• Bitcoin Miner Phoenix Buys WhatsMiners in $136 Million Contract

Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr has criticized inscriptions, including Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens, as “spam” exploiting a vulnerability in Bitcoin Core.

Dashjr implemented a fix on Bitcoin Knots, but community members disagree, citing an ongoing debate on network congestion and differing perspectives on Bitcoin use.

Dashjr believes fixing the bug will stop inscriptions, but others argue they’ll persist due to market demand.

The issue extends to other chains, causing transaction surges on Ethereum, Solana, Near, Polygon, Celo, and Fantom.

Some miners, like Ocean, filter inscriptions, while others profit from extra transaction fees. The debate raises questions about Bitcoin’s use cases and censorship resistance.

A significant move of over 1,000 bitcoins from an early miner during the “Satoshi era” has occurred, marking a rare event.

The bitcoins, mined between August and November 2010 at an estimated cost of $100, were transferred to trading desks and custodian services on December 4.

The transaction involved the consolidation of these bitcoins into an address holding a balance of 1,028 bitcoins, currently valued at $40 million.

Analysts speculate that the early miner may have sold the bitcoins, possibly to an over-the-counter (OTC) or custodian service.

This activity follows other movements of “Satoshi era” bitcoins in 2023, coinciding with renewed optimism and a doubling of bitcoin prices year-to-date.

UAE-based mining operator Phoenix Group has committed to a significant investment in mining equipment, signing a $136 million purchase contract with MicroBT for hydro-cooling WhatsMiners, with an option for an additional $246 million.

The undisclosed model and total hashrate of the purchase come weeks after Phoenix closed a $370 million IPO, elevating its market capitalization to over $3 billion.

Phoenix, primarily engaged in mining and wallet hardware sales, recorded $755 million and $230 million in revenue for 2022 and the first nine months of 2023, respectively, with hardware sales contributing 95% to its revenue.

MicroBT has secured miner sales contracts totaling $666 million with various companies in the past three months.

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