Early Ether Investor Moves Nearly $90M ETH to Kraken

Moving to an exchange could suggest the investor is likely to sell the asset for stablecoins or other tokens.

AccessTimeIconDec 5, 2023 at 6:46 a.m. UTC
Updated Mar 8, 2024 at 6:13 p.m. UTC
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An apparent large ether (ETH) holder moved nearly $90 million worth of the token to the crypto exchange Kraken after being dormant for five years, on-chain analytics tool Lookonchain posted early Tuesday.

The “whale,” a term for a large holder of any token, deposited 39,260 ether to Kraken in Asian morning hours, blockchain data shows. The address previously received 47,260 ether, worth just over $11 million at the time, from one transaction in 2017.

A CoinDesk analysis of the address shows previous transactions are not tied to the cold storage of any exchange. However, at least one transaction may be possibly connected to an address belonging to trading firm Cumberland, a labeling on data tool Arkham shows.

Moving to an exchange usually means the holder could sell tokens for stablecoins – increasing selling pressure – or convert to other tokens.

Meanwhile, data shows Kraken’s available market depth on ether trading pairs is over $5 million as of Tuesday morning – meaning a buy or sale of that amount could move the market by at least 2%.

Edited by Parikshit Mishra.

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Shaurya Malwa

Shaurya is the Deputy Managing Editor for the Data & Tokens team, focusing on decentralized finance, markets, on-chain data, and governance across all major and minor blockchains.


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