A long-dormant Ethereum whale has re-emerged after eight years, making a significant profit by selling a portion of its holdings.
According to blockchain tracker Spotonchain, the whale, identified as “0x996,” accumulated 16,636 ETH between January 19 and February 23, 2016, when the price of Ethereum was around $5.24. The total cost for the whale’s purchase was estimated at $87,136.
Whale Held on to the Ethereum For Almost a Decade
The whale moved the whole value to a new wallet, “0xe3e,” to sell some Ethereum after hanging onto the tokens for almost ten years. At an average price of $2,341, the whale exchanged 437.79 wrapped ETH (WETH) for 1.024 million USDT.
The whale’s wallet currently has 16,199 WETH left in it, or about $37.1 million. With an estimated $38 million in total profit, the whale has made a whopping 436 times its initial investment back.
Ethereum currently trading at $2,312.39, is down by more than 4% in the last 24 hours. Despite the price decline, trading volume has surged by 96.11%, reaching $14.37 billion. Over the past month, Ethereum has shown signs of recovery, with its price peaking at $2,418 before experiencing recent pullbacks.
Ethereum whales have made several sizable transactions in response to this market activity. A blockchain monitoring firm called Whale Alert has discovered many large-scale Ethereum transfers to different exchanges, amounting to $538 million in recent moves. Ethereum valued at $188.6 million was transferred to Binance, $127.2 million to Kraken, $34 million to Coinbase, and $188.6 million to Arbitrum.
Whales Continue to Influence the Ethereum Market
Whales, frequently have a significant influence on the direction of the market, especially when there is turbulence. The return of dormant whales, such as “0x996,” complicates Ethereum’s price fluctuations even further.
Even if the whale’s sell-off makes just a small portion of its overall holdings, it begs the issue of whether other dormant whales would follow suit, which might have an impact on Ethereum’s market trajectory.
The enormous transfers to exchanges at the same time raise the possibility that other significant holders are also trying to sell or reallocate their holdings.
The spike in whale activity may be an indication of future volatility as they try to profit from recent gains or protect themselves from potential market downturns given the volatility of ETH pricing.