- Early Bitcoin adopter is on the move with 50 BTC transferred to the Binance exchange
- In 2010, 50 BTC were going for about 30 cents each, or $15
- The amount is now equivalent to over $3 million, with BTC at $60,000 per coin
Early Adopter on the Move
An early Bitcoin adopter—probably one of the very first to mine the cryptocurrency—has made a move after 14 years of no activity. The veteran in the crypto space mined 50 Bitcoin as a reward in 2010, which was going for roughly 30 cents at the time. In other words, these 50 BTC tokens were worth a total of $15. But this miner didn’t pay anything—they were mined as a reward for providing mining services to the network.
Today, these 50 BTC are worth more than $3 million and that wallet — which has been dormant for 14 years — just woke up and transferred them to Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.
Bitcoin Rewards
Initially, the Bitcoin reward was set at 50 tokens per block, with the algorithm programmed to slash it in half every roughly four years. Fast-forward to today and that reward is now 3.125 BTC.
The head-spinning price increase over those 14 years remains unrivaled. No other investment asset has performed such a stunt in history. Bitcoin’s market capitalization was initially nothing. Until it started trading on exchanges in 2010 and the earliest traders experimented with transactions.
Tracing Bitcoin’s humble beginnings to its early days as a fledgling alternative-money project almost feels surreal. Over the years, the price of Bitcoin has seen 17 declines of more than 30% and five drops of more than 80%. Curiously, after each one of these, the OG token has rebounded to hit a new all-time high.
Megacap Behemoth
Now, the cryptocurrency is worth more than $60,000 per piece and has a market value of $1.2 trillion. Bitcoin’s price tag is double that of EV maker Tesla and just about the same as that of social media giant Meta (formerly Facebook).
To this end, Bitcoin’s price is about 17% away from its record high set earlier this year when traders ramped up their long bets, sending Bitcoin soaring to more than $73,000 a pop. The record-setting rally came after the Securities and Exchange Commission gave the green light to 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
ETFs in Action
These funds redefined the investment landscape by allowing professional money managers and retail consumers to own Bitcoin directly. Similarly, the same move is expected by Ethereum, the second-largest token on the board. The SEC has approved eight Ether ETFs, which are expected to launch as soon as July.
With this in mind, what are the prospects for the crypto market in the second half of the year? Investors are gearing up for fresh news that can stir digital assets and inject the volatility needed for solid dealmaking. With no major price catalysts, cryptocurrencies have largely been floating sideways and waiting for something to happen.
Outperforming Big Assets
Still, over the first six months of 2024, the price of Bitcoin is higher by roughly 40%, eclipsing the performance of other megacap assets. The S&P 500, America’s broad-based index, is up 15% for the same time span. Ethereum, on the other hand, has also marked pronounced gains of about 50% since early January, outperforming the number one token.
