A massive Ethereum ($ETH) initial coin offering (ICO) participant has recently shaken up the cryptosphere after transferring a staggering 1,111 ETH worth over $3.7 million after being dormant for nine years.
The wallet in question, 0xE72, received 2,000 ETH back in 2015 during Ethereum’s ICO. This initial investment, worth a mere $620 at the time, has ballooned into a multi-million-dollar fortune.
The Ethereum ICO whale could be about to secure gains of over 1,000,000% as Ethereum is at the time of writing trading at $3,280 per token, up from around $0.31 at the time of the cryptocurrency’s initial coin offering.
The move comes shortly after the launch of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States, which saw a total trading volume of over $360 million just 90 minutes after being launched, according to Bloomberg intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas, who noted that this trading volume would rank these ETFs “about 15th overall” when it comes to trading volume, which “is top 1%.”
Normal exchange-traded fund launches, Balchunas added, often see over $1 million worth of trading volume on the first day, but spot Ether ETFs, which provide investors with exposure to the performance of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, have greatly outperformed that volume.
Notably, on-chain data reveals a surge in activity among Ethereum’s largest investors. Whale transactions — those exceeding $100,000 — reached a monthly high on July 24, with a staggering 3.5 million ETH moved in a single day, with the record being broken the next day after 3.68 million ETH ($12.1 billion) were moved in a single day.
While this frenzied activity might suggest accumulation, a closer look at the data paints a more complex picture. While inflows to large wallets increased by 12.42% over the past week, outflows soared by a more substantial 38.17%, resulting in a net outflow of 100.65%. This suggests that whales are, on balance, moving Ethereum off trading platforms.
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