Another Ethereum whale, dormant for a decade, has recently emerged, choosing to stake its entire holdings rather than sell them. This significant move signals a continued conviction in the future of Ethereum.
The wallet in question holds 40,000 Ether tokens. These tokens were acquired during Ethereum’s genesis block launch in July 2015 for approximately $12,000. Today, this stash is valued at $120 million. Instead of transferring the funds to a cryptocurrency exchange, the ICO-era whale has opted to stake the entire ETH holding, indicating a strong belief in Ethereum's long-term potential.
Recent market activity has seen considerable discussion surrounding large cryptocurrency whale movements, with some analysts linking these actions to recent price fluctuations in the crypto market.
Activity Among Other Early Ethereum Investors
In contrast to the whale that staked its holdings, two other early Ethereum investors have recently sold portions of their reserves. One OG wallet, which accumulated 254,908 tokens during the Ether ICO, began selling its holdings on November 26. Initially, this whale sold 20,000 Ether and continued to gradually sell until only $9.3 million in Ether remained as of Saturday.
Concurrently, another early investor who had accumulated 154,076 Ether starting in 2017 sent 18,000 tokens to the crypto exchange Bitstamp. This individual had previously sold off 87,824 Ether at an average price of $1,694.
A larger Ether ICO wallet, which had been inactive for eight years before waking up in September, also chose to stake some of its substantial stash. This whale, having acquired 1 million tokens during Ethereum’s genesis, moved 150,000 Ether to a new wallet specifically for staking purposes.
Top Ethereum Holders Continue to Accumulate
While some long-term holders are divesting, the top Ethereum addresses are actively increasing their holdings. Last Wednesday, the supply of Ether held by the top 1% of addresses rose to 97.6%, an increase from 96.1% a year ago, according to blockchain data platform Glassnode.
The Eth2 Beacon Deposit Contract currently holds the largest amount of Ether, with 72.4 million tokens valued at approximately $203 billion. This represents about 60% of the total supply.
Crypto exchange Binance holds the second-largest amount of Ether with 4 million tokens. Asset manager BlackRock ranks third in the top holders, possessing 3.9 million Ether in its reserves.