A rumor has surfaced online that AI tools have cracked Bitcoin private keys after several old Bitcoin wallets suddenly moved billions of dollars worth of BTC yesterday. This claim exploded on X after the whale wallets, which have actually been inactive for over 14 years, moved a total of 70,000 BTC, worth around $7.6 billion at the time.
According to previous reports, each wallet transferred exactly 10,000 BTC to fresh, unused addresses. They all date back to April and May 2011, when Bitcoin was trading under $1. One of the wallets, “12tLs9c9…,” first received 10,000 BTC when Bitcoin was just $0.78. At today’s price, those coins are worth over $1 billion each.
The AI theory started from influencer Crypto Bitlord7’s tweet, where he claimed, “We are hearing early reports that advanced AI technology is targeting large addresses to crack bitcoin private keys”. This triggered a flurry among traders who have been taking note of this event since it happened.
Conor Grogan, Coinbase’s head of product, added fuel to the fire after he posted this: “There is a small possibility that the $8B in BTC that recently woke up were hacked or compromised private keys.” He even pointed to a small Bitcoin Cash (BCH) transaction from one of the whale clusters made just an hour before the BTC movement. However, he made sure to clarify that “this is all extreme speculation.”
Some suggested that someone may have cracked the wallets using old wallet files or purchased credentials. One user commented, “Or someone bought one of those old wallet.dat files and finally cracked it after all these years?”
Despite the buzz, experts strongly denied the idea that Bitcoin private keys can be cracked by AI. Mihailo Bjelic, the co-founder of Polygon, responded to the rumors by saying, “It’s not possible to crack Bitcoin private keys with AI, this is fake news and it doesn’t even make sense.”
Blockchain activity also points away from a hack. Analysts noted that the transfers looked manual, not automated. The coins weren’t sent to exchanges, which would typically be the case in a hack aiming for a quick sell-off.
Wallets like “1KbrSKr…,” “1P1iThx…,” and several others are known OG addresses—meaning they likely belong to early Bitcoin adopters, not someone who broke in. This kind of whale movement has happened before, especially as Bitcoin’s price hit new highs in 2025.
Earlier this year, over 62,800 BTC that had sat untouched for over seven years were moved. While the latest transfers are larger, there’s no hard proof that hacking or AI was involved. Four of the eight wallets remain dormant. The identity of the wallet owners is still unknown, but so far, there’s no sign of foul play.
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