A user of the neobank Revolut has inadvertently transferred approximately $5,000 worth of Bitcoin to an address widely believed to belong to Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of the cryptocurrency. According to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence, the incident involved a series of small test transfers followed by a final, larger transaction, rendering the funds permanently irretrievable.
The transfers were sent from a shared Revolut hot wallet to the Satoshi address 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa, known to hold the first 50 Bitcoin ever mined and untouched since its creation. The final transaction of 0.033 BTC, worth roughly $2,170 at the time, brought the total sent to around $5,000.
Because the private keys for this address remain unknown—no one, including Satoshi, is believed to control them—sending Bitcoin there is functionally equivalent to burning the money. The coins become permanently unspendable. Analysts have speculated that the transfer could have been a mistake due to a copy-paste error, a symbolic tribute, or even a publicity stunt, but no statement from the user has emerged.
The incident underscores the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions and the critical importance of double-checking wallet addresses. While Revolut offers security features like address whitelisting and confirmation prompts, human error remains a risk. As of now, Revolut has not publicly commented on the specific case.