Two Ethereum wallets that had been inactive for more than 8 years moved 200,000 ETH, worth about $785M, to two new addresses on the network on Friday, according to on-chain trackers Lookonchain.
Details on the trade
The funds originally came mainly from Bitfinex, the owner now holds 736,316 ETH worth about $2.89B across eight wallets, and the activity comes as ETH trades at $3,936.88, down 0.97% in 24 hours with the global market cap near $475.32 billion and 24-hour volume up 12.78%.
While investors also watch the upcoming Fusaka upgrade scheduled for Dec. 3, which Vitalik Buterin said will add PeerDAS to let nodes validate and rebuild blocks without storing all data.
Wallet activity and background
On-chain monitors flagged the movement after years of dormancy. The two wallets had not been active for over 8 years, and they shifted 200,000 ETH into two fresh addresses.
Analysts note the stash traces back mainly to Bitfinex, and across a cluster of eight wallets tied to the same entity, the total holdings now sit at 736,316 ETH, which the tracker valued at roughly $2.89B.
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ETH Price Actions
Ethereum is trading at $3,936.88, and the token is down 0.97% in the last 24 hours and down 12.92% over the past week. The global market cap for crypto sits around $475.32B.
Trading activity has picked up, with 24-hour volume rising about 12.78%. These moves show the market is active even as prices pull back from recent highs.
Large, long-dormant wallets waking up can stir concern, and big transfers like this often prompt traders to ask whether coins will hit the market. Whales selling even a fraction of such a stash could add pressure to the spot price.
Still, not every transfer leads to sales, and some movements are internal, or part of custody shifts and security checks.
What this could mean?
A move of this size can mean different things at once, and it may signal that a long-time holder is repositioning or preparing to sell. It could also be a shift to secure storage, to new custody providers, or to fund other deals.
For traders, the simple fact is that liquidity risk rises when huge balances change hands. That can widen price swings and add to short-term volatility. For the broader market, the event is a reminder that even long-sleeping balances can return and that on-chain transparency matters for market sentiment.
Fusaka upgrade and PeerDAS
Ethereum developers and community leaders are preparing the Fusaka upgrade for mainnet on Dec. 3. Vitalik Buterin described PeerDAS as the upgrade’s key feature.
PeerDAS is designed to let Ethereum nodes check and rebuild blocks without holding every byte of chain data. This aims to ease the burden on node operators and could make participation less costly for smaller validators and operators.
Last month, Ethereum set a fresh record, reaching an all-time high of $4,885.61 on Coinbase and several other exchanges. That peak came before the current pullback.
The swing from the high to today’s price highlights how quickly crypto markets can change and why traders watch both on-chain flows and protocol upgrades closely.
Market participants will track whether any of the 200,000 ETH moves end up on exchanges. They will also watch order books and ETF or institutional flows for signs of distribution or accumulation.
The Fusaka upgrade timeline and progress reports will matter for confidence in the network’s technical path. Finally, short-term price action is likely to remain sensitive to large on-chain transfers and to headlines.