European cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp has moved nearly $1 billion worth of bitcoin from its cold wallet for a transaction fee of less than $0.50.

The large transaction was first spotted by Bitcoin Block Bot, which noted that a large bitcoin address moved 101,857 BTC on block 636,503. The transaction paid a fee of 13 satoshis/byte, totaling 0.00005271 BTC or $0.48. The amount of bitcoin moved is, at press time, worth $932.59 million.

Soon after the transaction was spotted blockchain sleuths tried to identify who was behind it. One Redditor got it right after referencing a tweet from Bitstamp’s co-founder, Nejc Kodrič, published in October 2019 revealed the exchange moved 112,027 BTC, then worth $933 million, for a transaction fee of $3.89.

The wallet was reportedly used after Bitstamp agreed to have their funds in custody with the financial service BitGo. More direct confirmation that the cryptocurrency exchange was behind the transaction that moved nearly $1 billion, however, came in a tweet from Kodrič himself revealing the address that moved the funds is a cold wallet belonging to Bitstamp.

The transaction moved 96,857 bitcoin to one address, and 5,000 bitcoin to another address. It highlighted that the bitcoin blockchain is transparent and anyone can follow a transaction to find out who is behind it.

While exchanges and other companies are relatively easy to identify, the identity of some of the richest BTC addresses is still unknown. As CryptoGlobe reported earlier this year an early bitcoin miner signed a message from addresses with coinbase rewards from 2009 and 2010 calling out Craig Wright. Who the miner is isn’t clear, as the message was signed by addresses that never moved their coins.

The transaction also highlights bitcoin’s efficiency to move funds. According to TheFeeCalculator, a website dedicated to calculating PayPal’s merchant account fees, the same transaction would cost $27 million is made via the fintech giant.

Featured image via Pexels.