On May 20, an amount of 50 BTC was sent from a wallet that mined Bitcoin in February 2009, as seen in the network transaction details. Small amounts from this wallet were also sent to Coinbase and payments platform CoinPayments, according to glassnode.

The wallet, which has remained inactive 10 years, has sparked much discussion about the owner, with some saying it is Satoshi, but most leaning to the idea that it is one of the other early miners.

The wallet has been inactive since 2009, which begs the question as to why the funds were moved now, and fractional amounts to these specific platforms. Shopify recently announced integration with CoinPayments, and also works with Coinbase Commerce.

Worth approximately $468,000, it cannot be said with certainty that the funds were issued from Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet, though some suggest that it might have been a close associate of the Bitcoin (BTC) creator.

Sudden Problems for Craig Wright

The transfer of these funds has complicated Craig Wright’s case, who has had to deny that the coins moved were his. He has continued to argue that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. A case he is fighting against the estate of a former business associated has seen him be asked to simply move some funds, but he says he lacks the private keys. 

Having already admitted this, Wright cannot admit that these funds belong to him, but someone else, which only complicates his case further. Calvin Ayre, who is associated with Wright, has said that the Bitcoin does not belong to Wright.

However, the address is one of the 16,000 addresses provided by Wright in a document, so denying ownership of the address could be seen as perjury.

Wright will see trial on July 6, though there is still time for the case to be settled outside court.