An “epic sat,” an extremely rare satoshi (the smallest unit of Bitcoin) from the network’s fourth halving block, was recently sold for over $2 million.

On April 25, the crypto mining pool ViaBTC successfully auctioned off “Sat 1,968,750,000,000,000” for 33.3 BTC, approximately $2.13 million, on the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx Global.

ViaBTC’s Rare Satoshi Auctioned

CoinEx Global announced that its partner, the ViaBTC mining pool, successfully mined the 840,000th block. This milestone marked Bitcoin’s fourth halving and featured a block identified as an epic “Rare Satoshi.”

According to CoinEx, this event was not just a bidding event but part of Bitcoin’s blockchain history, showing the community’s acknowledgment, media coverage, and wider acceptance of the asset and the network.

The auction has concluded successfully, with the FIRST & ONLY epic sat selling for 33.3 $BTC (≈$2,134,000). This auction isn’t just a bidding event; it marked the community recognition, media attention, & widespread embrace of #Bitcoin. A heartfelt thanks to all who support us. pic.twitter.com/fCFz1YrH0I

— CoinEx Global (@coinexcom) April 25, 2024

This satoshi, known as an “epic sat,” garnere­d a lot of intere­st, with 34 bids before an unidentifie­d bidder secured owne­rship rights to the epic sat. The runner-up bidder made an offer of 20 Bitcoin for the rare sat but was outbid in the auction.

The Bitcoin network currently has 100 million satoshis (sats), with each worth around $0.00065. However, some sats are considered more special within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Only four ­of the ­first satoshis mine­d after a Bitcoin halving e­­vent are conside­re­d exceptionally rare and valuable­­. The Bitcoin Ordinals protocol, which assigns metadata to satoshis, has made ­the­se “epic sats” collectible­, resulting in them being highly sought afte­­r.

Bitcoin Struggles Following Fourth Halving

The fourth Bitcoin halving event on April 20 reduced mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. In addition to receiving 3.125 BTC in mining rewards, ViaBTC also earned 37.6256 BTC in reward fees, amounting to approximately $2,401,399.

Meanwhile, bitcoin’s price has been struggling post-halving. On Thursday morning, it dropped below $64,000. This price decline followed the liquidation of over $209 million in crypto-long positions as the market dipped overnight, with around $52 million in bitcoin-long positions getting wrecked. Comparatively, BTC had climbed as high as $73K before halving.

However, the top crypto by market cap has since seen some recovery. CoinGecko data shows Bitcoin is currently trading at around $64,386, up 0.2% over the last day.

Meanwhile, the next Bitcoin halving is projected to take place around April 17, 2028. With this one, the fifth “epic sat” will be associated with the first subsequent block, as mining rewards decrease to 1.56 BTC.

Bitcoin’s price recovery attempts from the business week have come to a halt as the asset slumped to $62,400 earlier before bouncing off to around $63,000 as of now.

The altcoins are in no better shape, with most of the market turning red today. The total crypto market cap is down by $150 billion in two days.

BTC Dumps to $63K

Bitcoin’s price actions before and after the fourth halving, which was completed last Friday, have been quite underwhelming. The asset recovered some ground after the Iran-Israel attacks and stood above $65,000 when the block rewards were reduced.

It even started climbing in the following days and challenged $67,000 on a few occasions. Yet, it didn’t see much success there amid the growing ETF outflows.

Just the opposite, BTC started to lose value rapidly in the past few days, which culminated in a substantial price decline to a multi-day low of $62,400 earlier today.

Despite recovering some ground, bitcoin still struggles to reclaim $63,000. Its market cap has slipped to $1.240 trillion on CoinGecko, while its dominance over the altcoins stands still below 51%.

Alts Turn Red

The alternative coins space is in a dire state today as well. The most violent price decline from a larger-cap alt comes from Solana. The token has dropped by over 5% in a day and struggles below $140 now. Dogecoin (-3.5%), Cardano (-3.2%), Avalanche (-3.6%), Shiba Inu (-3.1%), and Polkadot (-2.75%) follow suit.

ETH, BNB, XRP, and TON are also in the red but in a less violent manner. Tron’s native token is among the few alts in the green today, charting a 3% increase.

However, most other lower- and mid-cap alts have posted significant losses over the past day as well. As such, the total crypto market cap is down by $50 billion overnight and $150 billion since Thursday to under $2.450 trillion on CG.

A meme coin trader has reportedly cashed out over $22 million in profits from multiple positions in meme-themed tokens on the Solana blockchain.

According to blockchain analysis firm Lookonchain, the actions of a trader identified as “paulo.sol” on the Solana Name Service account were flagged on April 26.

Meme Coin Trader Profits Over $22 Million

The meme coin trader achieved profitable outcomes from assets like Dogwifhat (WIF), Jeo Boden (BODEN), and Bonk (BONK).

They initiated their investment in BONK as early as November 11, 2023, after observing its upward trajectory. Employing a strategy of purchasing during downturns and selling during peaks, they executed swing trades, resulting in an accumulation of approximately $6.28 million in profits from trading BONK.

What a legend!😱

paulo.sol has realized profits of $9.51M on $WIF, $7.04M on $boden and $6.28M on $BONK.

1/ Let’s dig into his trades to see what he’s buying.👇 pic.twitter.com/2axUwHb3el

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 26, 2024

Recognizing the potential in WIF and BODEN, the trader didn’t enter these tokens at launch but started accumulating them during upward movements. They purchased WIF on December 4, 2023, and initiated BODEN trades on March 6. As a result, the trader realized profits of $9.51 million from WIF trades and $7.04 million from BODEN transactions.

They got approximately $22.83 million from flipping Solana-based meme tokens. While significant profits have already been secured, the trader currently has $7.6 million in BODEN tokens and $5.7 million in WIF.

Furthermore, the trader expanded their meme coin portfolio by investing in additional tokens. They allocated $1.77 million to POPCAT and nearly $6 million to PUPS, subsequently becoming the largest holder of PUPS on the Solana blockchain.

Traders Capitalize on Solana Meme Coin Frenzy

Community members have applauded the trader for the impressive moves in the crypto market. One user noted that the trader’s success was not merely luck but rather a demonstration of their unwavering belief compared to others.

Another user commended the trader for exhibiting “diamond” hands, a term used to describe traders who can maintain their positions even in challenging market conditions.

The trader is among many who have profited from the Solana meme coin frenzy. On April 3, another trader turned $13,000 into $2 million within one hour. In this case, they purchased 499.9 million MOEW using 4 Ether just 10 minutes after MOEW was listed on decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Less than an hour later, they sold 111.65 million MOEW for 99 ETH ($328,000) and were left with 388.24 million MOEW.