Ethereum ICO Whale Transfers 61K ETH After 8 Years

A wallet that received over 61,000 ether (ETH) in the initial coin offering (ICO) eight years ago, transferred the entire amount to a wallet on Wednesday, blockchain data shows. The wallet is said to belong to crypto exchange Kraken.

These holdings are worth over $116 million at current prices. The ether was purchased for 31 cents a token during the ICO.

Wallet 0x8b moved the tokens to another wallet, and then to the Kraken-tagged wallet, the data shows. The owner of the wallet is unknown as of Wednesday. The only previous movement was when the wallet received ether from the genesis contract after Ethereum launched.

Transaction showing 61,000 ether that was moved to a crypto exchange wallet. (Etherscan)

Such large movements from early participants are typically uncommon. This movement could mean the holder is preparing to sell tokens, stake on an exchange, or diversify their holdings for other tokens.

The movement is the latest in a line of old wallets moving tokens such as bitcoin (BTC) or ether (ETH) to exchanges this year.

In April, at least four wallets moved millions worth of bitcoin to exchanges or to other wallets. These investors are colloquially known as "whales" because they hold large amounts of tokens in their digital wallets – which can influence the price or sentiment around a token because of the size of their holdings.

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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