A dormant Ethereum whale belonging to the pre-mine era has reactivated after 8 years to deposit all of its 61,216 ETH holdings worth roughly $116 million to the Kraken exchange, a few hours ago. According to Lookonchain statistics, the anonymous investor bought 61k ETH at Ethereum Genesis while the price of ETH was about $0.31.
Before sending the larger amount, the ETH address initially made a test transaction of 0.05 ETH to the crypto exchange. Market observers speculated that millions of dollars’ worth of selling pressure were about to strike the market for ETH when they noticed the transfer of the entire wallet balance.
Pre-mine era ETH was distributed as a token of appreciation to Ethereum’s early backers, including those who contributed money during the project’s Initial Coin Offering [ICO]. 72 million ETH were available when the ETH network first launched, and 83% of those were given to anyone who bought the cryptocurrency during the public sale that took place in July and August 2014.
At the time, participants in the crowd sale contributed a total of 31,000 BTC to a Bitcoin address provided by EthSuisse in exchange for an Ethereum wallet address to which the ETH they bought would be sent upon the network’s official debut.
The majority of early buyers sold off their coins; hence, news of such pre-mine addresses re-emerging hits the headlines. The owners of the remaining wallet addresses, if they decide to sell, would probably realize one of the highest returns on an initial investment in history, which would also have an impact on the cryptocurrency market as the price of ETH has increased dramatically over the years.
Ethereum’s Large Investors Are Cashing In On The Profits
Recent data provides insight into the actions of Ethereum whales, who are drastically reducing their holdings. One such transaction involves a whale selling 4,549 ETH for $1,930 [or roughly $9 million]. Notably, on January 9, one particular whale paid $6 million to purchase 4,549 ETH for $1,319, making a profit of over $2.78 million.
This sell-off pattern among ETH whales may have been brought on by a calculated attempt to capitalize on the recent rise in the value of the second-largest cryptocurrency. The favorable court ruling in favor of the Ripple-affiliated XRP token, which had a knock-on effect on several other digital assets, including Ethereum, is largely responsible for the current market position.