Dormant 11-Year Ethereum Wallet Moves $4.6M — and Outfoxes Bots in Minutes

A dormant Ethereum wallet created during the network's 2015 launch moved roughly $4.6 million after 11 years of inactivity, according to a CoinDesk report. The moment the wallet stirred, automated bots detected the activity and planted lookalike addresses in its transaction history in an apparent attempt to redirect the funds, but the owner ultimately sent the money to the correct destination.

The incident illustrates a tactic known as address poisoning, in which attackers generate wallet addresses that closely resemble a target's legitimate contacts and insert them into transaction histories, hoping a victim will copy the wrong address from a block explorer. Long-dormant wallets holding large balances are prime targets because their owners may be less practiced at verifying addresses. The report did not identify the wallet owner or specify the exact value at the time of transfer.

The case underscores the security risks facing holders of early-era crypto assets as bot-driven scams grow more automated and faster to react. It also serves as a cautionary example for dormant-wallet owners: verifying destination addresses character by character, rather than copying from transaction history, remains the most reliable defense against lookalike-address attacks.