✅ Follow-Up: The Real Story Behind the 80,000 BTC OP_RETURN Messages
In my original article of yesterday about the mysterious move of ~80,000 dormant BTC, I discussed the on-chain OP_RETURN messages — including the “I am not selling” statement and the so-called legal “NOTICE TO OWNERS.” At first glance, these looked like direct messages from the whale holding the keys.
That was wrong.
🧊 Here’s what really happened:
In Bitcoin, anyone can broadcast an OP_RETURN message to any address. You don’t need the private keys to send to an address — you only need them to spend from it.
The “NOTICE” and “I am not selling” messages were actually spam transactions sent to the whale’s old legacy address by a third party. The whale’s actual transaction that moved the coins included no OP_RETURN messages at all — just standard outputs to new SegWit addresses.
So the so-called “statement” wasn’t from the owner — it was just on-chain graffiti. Ironically, the spam may have forced the real owner to wake up, move the stash, and upgrade their privacy and security.
✅ The only real signal is this: the coins are awake, still intact, and so far, not for sale.
📌 Some real takeaways from this story
• Just a few years ago, an event like this — 80,000 ancient BTC suddenly moving — would have triggered an immediate, full-on community investigation. Today, despite how significant this is for all Bitcoiners, very few took the time to dig-in and clarify the facts. Most podcasters have ignored this event except for Nik Bhatia and nostr:nprofile1qyfhwumn8ghj7ctvvahjuat50phjummwv5q32amnwvaz7tm9v3jkutnwdaehgu3wd3skueqqyzu7we2xhgry2mknq8v7227yn7jguu9xhu3g90n6rtnjj3mpyq3ackdvvhl 👍 🙏 That’s not good. It shows there’s less and less attention paid to the technical truths that protect this network. If people keep focusing only on “numbers go up” and ignore the nuts and bolts, someone’s going to get burned. Bitcoin is resilient — but users need to stay vigilant.
• The most likely explanation? Some sophisticated operator spammed the OP_RETURN to spook the market, troll blockchain watchers, or try to force old keys to move. There could be dozens of motives — but the lesson is simple: Don’t take every on-chain “message” at face value. Verify.
• And last but not least — I still stand by what I said yesterday: this is bullish for Bitcoin. Whoever reactivated those Satoshi-era keys didn’t panic-sell. They’ve held through a mind-bending 6,000x gain — and they’re still here, upgrading security, staying sovereign. That conviction is the real story and the lesson for today’s “paper bitcoiners”. And that’s why Bitcoin will always outlast the noise.
Kudos 🙏 👍 to nostr:nprofile1qyfhwumn8ghj7ctvvahjuat50phjummwv5q32amnwvaz7tm9v3jkutnwdaehgu3wd3skueqqyzu7we2xhgry2mknq8v7227yn7jguu9xhu3g90n6rtnjj3mpyq3ackdvvhl for uncovering this in his latest podcast
https://domiplay.com/podcaster/bitcoin-audible/take101-follow-up
Hold your keys. Bitcoin is forever.
If you read yesterday’s original piece (below linked), thanks for sticking around for this correction. That’s how we get better.
#bitcoin #bitcoindollar #whale #nostr
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