Early Ethereum Holder Stakes $120 Million Instead of Selling
An Ethereum wallet that acquired tokens during the 2015 genesis block launch has moved its entire $120 million holdings into staking. This wallet, which originally purchased the position for approximately $12,000, chose to stake its substantial holdings rather than deposit them to a cryptocurrency exchange. This decision suggests a strong conviction in the future of the Ethereum network.
This behavior stands in contrast to recent actions by other early Ethereum holders who have been selling portions of their positions. For instance, another wallet from the ICO era, holding 254,908 tokens, began selling on November 26. This holder initially offloaded 20,000 Ethereum and has since gradually reduced their holdings to just $9.3 million as of Saturday. In a separate case, a holder who accumulated 154,076 Ethereum starting in 2017 sent 18,000 tokens to Bitstamp. This followed a previous sale of 87,824 tokens at an average price of $1,694.
Further illustrating the varied strategies among early investors, a large wallet that became active after eight years in September also opted for staking. This wallet moved 150,000 of its 1 million tokens, acquired during Ethereum's genesis, to a new wallet specifically for staking purposes. The mixed behavior among these original holders reflects different strategic approaches as the Ethereum network continues to mature.
Top Ethereum Addresses Continue Accumulation
Despite some selling pressure from original investors, top Ethereum addresses are continuing to accumulate tokens. Data from blockchain platform Glassnode indicates that the supply held by the top 1% of addresses rose to 97.6% last Wednesday, an increase from 96.1% one year prior. This trend suggests a growing concentration of Ethereum among major holders.
Major Holders and Institutional Confidence
The Eth2 Beacon Deposit Contract holds the largest amount of Ethereum, with 72.4 million tokens valued at approximately $203 billion. This represents roughly 60% of the total supply, according to blockchain intelligence platform Arkham. The second-largest holder is the exchange Binance, which possesses 4 million tokens.
Asset manager BlackRock ranks third among top holders, with 3.9 million Ethereum in its reserves. The significant concentration of holdings among these major entities, coupled with continued accumulation patterns, points to institutional confidence in Ethereum's long-term prospects. This confidence persists even amidst recent price volatility that has affected the broader cryptocurrency market.
While the movement of funds by original crypto whales can sometimes trigger fears in the market, the particular holder discussed at the beginning of this article used the opportunity to increase their participation in the network. The decision to stake represents a long-term commitment to Ethereum's proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and its underlying economic model.