Autor Cointelegraph By Helen Partz

Bitcoin mined in 2010 moved from long-dormant addresses after more than 16 years, reigniting speculation over a possible link to Satoshi Nakamoto.Twelve addresses holding a combined 600 Bitcoin (BTC), worth about $48 million, moved the coins on Saturday after more than 16 years of dormancy, according to onchain data reviewed by Cointelegraph.Whale Alert, a blockchain transaction tracking platform, said the 600 BTC came from rewards mined across 12 Bitcoin blocks and that its research found no connection to Nakamoto.“None of the blocks can be connected to Satoshi based on our research,” a spokesperson for Whale Alert told Cointelegraph, tempering speculation around the origins of coins mined while Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator was still active.Whale Alert traces all 12 mining block rewardsWhale Alert traced all 12 rewards to Bitcoin blocks mined in March 2010, when each block paid a 50 BTC block subsidy. The subsidy has since been cut in half four times, most recently in April 2024, when it fell from 6.25 BTC to the current 3.125 BTC per block.The findings expand on Whale Alert’s earlier analysis of seven of the rewards. It said in an X post on Sunday that those seven originated from blocks it had determined were not mined by Nakamoto.The mining blocks and addresses for the 12 dormant Bitcoin rewards. Source: Whale AlertLookonchain, an onchain analytics platform, had also initially identified seven miner wallets that moved 350 BTC after 16.5 years of inactivity, saying the wallets earned the coins through mining in March 2010.Satoshi-era doesn’t mean Satoshi’s BitcoinThe movement attracted attention partly because the coins date to a period when Nakamoto was still actively involved with Bitcoin.Nakamoto remained involved in Bitcoin development and communications through 2010 before gradually withdrawing from the project, with their last known communication dating to April 2011.One of the 12 addresses received a 50 BTC mining reward on March 5, 2010, and moved the coins to a new address on Sept. 5, 2026. Source: Blockchain.comWhale Alert noted that one reward moved several blocks before most of the others, saying the pattern was consistent with a test transaction before the remaining transfers.Magazine: BTC will hit $1M by 2030… but Arthur Hayes is buying ETH instead

Orionx, a Chilean crypto exchange backed by USDt stablecoin issuer Tether, is shutting down after uncovering a multimillion-dollar issue linked to asset custody.The exchange said it began a permanent closure process after a forensic audit found more than $7 million in custodial assets had moved to wallets it did not manage, according to a company announcement shared on X on Thursday.“Our sole priority now is to return as much of our clients’ assets as possible,” Orionx said, adding that withdrawals are temporarily suspended.The closure comes just 15 months after Tether led Orionx’s Series A as part of its push to expand digital asset adoption in Latin America.Orionx leaves timing of $7 million transfers unclearOrionx’s post did not specify when the more than $7 million in transfers occurred or how the discrepancy was initially uncovered.As part of its efforts to comply with Chile’s Fintech Law, Orionx conducted a review of its operations in 2025 and brought in financial professionals, according to the major Chilean newspaper La Tercera, citing the company’s criminal complaint.On Aug. 27, chief operating officer Thomas Mac Millan detected a “significant mismatch” between balances recorded in Orionx’s systems and assets actually held in custody, according to the complaint.Related: BitMEX co-founder contributed 75% of Reform UK’s donations in Q2 2026An internal review followed, and Orionx later commissioned an external forensic audit that compared its records with data verifiable onchain. The audit found that balances recorded in Orionx’s systems exceeded the assets held at its custody addresses for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP and Polygon (POL).The criminal complaint reportedly alleges that assets were transferred out of Orionx’s custody between 2018 and 2021, including to accounts on other crypto platforms.Orionx accuses co-founders, who deny wrongdoingOrionx said it filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday against former executives Roberto Zibert and Joaquín Díaz, both co-founders who allegedly had access to the company’s crypto custody systems.The complaint alleges that an account associated with Díaz received more than $1.5 million across 14 transfers, while another wallet allegedly received 187 Ether, more than 4.1 million USDt (USDT) and 200,000 USDC from Orionx, La Tercera reported.Former executive and Orionx co-founder Roberto Zibert. Source: LinkedInZibert and Díaz denied the allegations, saying they never acted against customers’ interests and that the cause of Orionx’s asset shortfall remains unclear.Tether backed Orionx in 2025Founded in Chile in 2017, Orionx grew from a retail crypto exchange into a platform offering crypto payment and financial services in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico.Tether invested in Orionx in June 2025, exclusively leading the exchange’s Series A funding round, according to an archived version of Tether’s announcement. The announcement is no longer available on Tether’s website.Cointelegraph contacted Tether and Orionx for comment but had not received a response by publication.Magazine: Tether sued over $42M in frozen coins, 6,600 students get crypto loans: Asia Express

Polish lawmakers have again failed to secure the three-fifths majority needed to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of legislation aimed at strengthening oversight of the country’s crypto market.The Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, on Friday voted 241-198 in favor of overriding the veto, with three abstentions, falling 25 votes short of the 266 needed.The vote was yet another attempt to advance Poland’s crypto market rules after President Karol Nawrocki vetoed crypto legislation three times, arguing that the proposed rules would overregulate the industry.The regulatory dispute comes amid a deepening scandal involving defunct crypto exchange Zondacrypto, with its Estonian operator declared bankrupt and Prime Minister Donald Tusk citing an expanding criminal investigation to push for tighter crypto oversight.Poland remains without MiCA crypto supervisorThe vetoed legislation was designed to establish Poland’s national framework for applying the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), including placing oversight of the crypto market under the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF).KNF said Friday that the country still lacks a designated authority responsible for supervising the cryptoasset market, despite MiCA already applying across the European Union.Nawrocki has said he supports crypto regulation but argues that Poland’s proposed rules go too far, citing concerns over regulatory costs and authorities’ powers to block websites.Zondacrypto probe expands amid bankruptcyAhead of Friday’s vote, Tusk disclosed excerpts from what he said was testimony by a key witness in the Zondacrypto investigation, alleging payments and attempts to influence politicians linked to Poland’s previous government.Tusk said the witness alleged a 2 million Polish zloty ($550,000) payment arrangement involving a foundation linked to former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. In separate testimony cited by Tusk, the witness alleged that an unnamed person had promised to secure a presidential pardon if the witness was convicted.Related: Polish Olympic chief charged in Zondacrypto probe, justice minister saysPolish prosecutors are investigating suspected fraud and money laundering connected to Zondacrypto. In July, they merged the case with a probe into the 2022 disappearance of Sylwester Suszek, founder of BitBay, which was later renamed Zondacrypto.Prosecutors in April said losses linked to Zondacrypto were estimated at no less than 350 million Polish zlotys ($95 million).Zondacrypto’s operator, BB Trade Estonia, was officially declared bankrupt by an Estonian court in August, with the first creditors’ meeting scheduled for Sept. 17.Magazine: MiCA is coming for DeFi vaults, but regulation will be difficult

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