The Fake Data That Claims Satoshi Nakamoto Sold 10k BTC

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A small corner of the crypto community was recently sent into a frenzy after a doctored image began circulating across social media. The image, which appeared to be a screenshot from Arkham Intel, suggested that the long-dormant holdings of the Bitcoin creator had finally moved. The image showed a transfer of 10,000 BTC, worth nearly $1 billion. This image was fake, and Arkham data did not show the transfer of 10,000 BTC.

As the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi is the largest individual holder in the world, with over 1.1 million BTC spread across approximately 22,000 separate addresses. These coins were mined back in the early days of Bitcoin and have remained untouched for over 15 years, leading many to believe they are effectively "dead" or inaccessible.

Arkham is currently the only blockchain analytics tool that actively de-anonymizes these crypto addresses and groups them into singular entities. Instead of tracking thousands of individual wallets, the Arkham Intel Platform allows users to monitor the Satoshi Nakamoto entity as a whole. This makes any movement from his stash instantly visible to anyone with a Nakamoto alert set up. You can set these up for yourself here.

Those who have set up alerts on Satoshi Nakamoto would have been confused by the doctored image that started circulating, as there was no such alert.

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The image in question was a sophisticated doctored fake. By altering the "Transfers" list to include a fictitious transaction of 10,000 BTC to an unknown address, the creator of the hoax tried to mimic real-time Arkham data. Arkham users would easily have seen that the real on-chain data shows that Satoshi’s 1.1 million BTC remain exactly where they have been for a decade.

If this transfer were actually true, the effect on the market could be significant. The entry of 10,000 BTC into the circulating supply would add downward pressure to the price, especially from the Founder of BTC.

However, the main effect would be psychological, with many crypto traders and investors worrying that the creator himself had lost conviction in his project. 

People spread this type of misinformation to deliberately manipulate market sentiment or capitalize on existing negative sentiment for engagement. Arkham data shows you actual on-chain movements, so you can verify for yourself whether a prominent person, influencer, or company is actually buying/selling what they’re claiming to.