An old hand in the Ethereum market is cashing out big time. This early investor has moved a hefty sum of Ethereum tokens in recent days. We are talking about more than 4,400 ETH, worth around $19.8 million. They sent these tokens to crypto trading platforms, likely to pocket some serious profit. Ethereum’s price jumped 30% this year, making it a good time for these long-term holders to sell.
A quick look at the details:
- An early Ethereum investor, known as a “whale,” is selling as prices dip.
- Before sending 1,131 ETH to Kraken on Monday, they had already moved over 3,000 ETH to the same exchange.
- In just seven days, this investor has sent 4,460 ETH, valued at $19.8 million, to Kraken.
- They are not the only early Ethereum investor taking profits after nearly ten years.
An Ethereum "whale," someone who piled up the cryptocurrency when the project first started, has been selling a lot of it lately. This large holder keeps sending tokens to exchanges, even as prices pulled back this past Monday.
The owner of the unknown wallet "0x815…e6c3eD" sent 1,131 ETH earlier, worth about $4.8 million. This transfer went to a deposit address on Kraken. Data from Arkham Intelligence shows this activity clearly.
This big move happened as Ether’s price dipped. On Monday, ETH briefly slipped under $4,300. This was part of a wider price drop in the crypto market. As of now, ETH trades around $4,325. That’s nearly 5% less in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko figures.
The analysis team at Onchain Lens noticed this activity. They reported that this transfer isn’t a one-off event. The same wallet has been moving much of its Ether wealth to exchanges throughout the week. In the past seven days, this user sent 4,460 ETH, valued at about $19.8 million, to Kraken. This suggests a clear intention to sell these holdings.
Onchain Lens identified the person behind these moves. They are an early investor from Ethereum’s initial coin offering, or ICO, which happened almost a decade ago.
The Ethereum ICO was a fundraising event. It took place between July and September 2014. Its goal was to gather money for developing the Ethereum network. During this ICO, over 60 million ETH tokens were sold. The average price at the time was just $0.31 per ETH.
The huge gains from this investment likely pushed the user to sell. Early last week, Ether’s price shot up to $4,800. That’s very close to its all-time high of $4,980, which it hit in 2021. Even though the price has come down from those peaks, it still boasts a 30% gain for the year so far.
Ethereum officially launched in July 2015 after its successful ICO. This initial investment has now turned into a staggering return. For those early participants, it’s more than 13,000 times their money back. This is based on ETH’s current price of $4,325.
The exact reason for the "0x815…e6c3eD" wallet’s movements in recent days is not known. However, this investor doesn’t seem to be alone. Other early Ethereum ICO participants are also deciding to move their hoards. This comes amid the recent rise in prices.
Over the weekend, another ICO wallet also showed activity. This one involved old tokens bought for just $104, a tiny fraction of today’s prices. Lookonchain reported on this movement. That user activated their wallet for the first time in ten years. They moved about $1.5 million in ETH on Saturday.
We often call addresses, people, or groups holding massive amounts of a cryptocurrency "whales." In this case, they hold a lot of ETH. Traders watch whales closely. Their moves can signal how the market feels. They can also greatly impact prices. Whales that have stayed quiet for decades are especially interesting. Their sudden activity might point to a potential loss of long-term belief in a project.
The owner of "0x815…e6c3eD" still holds 197 ETH. These tokens are worth $852,460, according to Arkham data.