A long-term Ethereum whale sold holdings worth about $27.6 million, possibly generating profits of more than 18,000% from the time they acquired their tokens, according to blockchain data.
The whale’s address started receiving ETH from another address in 2016, when it was priced at little over $8 a coin, data from Nansen and Breadcrumbs showed. That crypto sat dormant for years.
It isn’t clear whether the “ETH millionaire” who cashed out Wednesday did indeed buy the ETH back in 2016, but it ended up in their wallet.
Over the past 24 hours, the holder has swapped their ETH for stablecoin USDC via the Uniswap decentralized exchange, cashing out 18,437 coins for $27.6 million at today’s prices. Some of that ETH arrived in its holdings back in 2022.
The investor cashed out the ETH in small transactions of over 1,400 coins at a time, data shows. This may be because movements from big “HODLers” can spook investors, as industry observers and traders often expect selling action with such large transfers.
ETH whales hold at least 10,000 ETH—today worth nearly $15 million.
Blockchain data doesn’t reveal if such investors are individuals or companies.
ETH was recently trading for $1,517 per coin, down more than 7% over a 24-hour period, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko data shows. The second biggest cryptocurrency by market cap is about 70% below its 2021 all-time high of $4,878.
The crypto market has experienced more volatility than usual as President Trump’s tariff announcements have led investors to sell off stocks and other “risk-on” assets like cryptocurrencies.
Edited by James Rubin
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