Ethereum ICO Wallet Stakes $120 Million After a Decade

An early Ethereum (ETH) investor has resurfaced after nearly a decade of complete silence. The whale has staked the entirety of its wallet into staking. According to the on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain, the long-silent wallet acquired 40,000 ETH for just $12,000 during Ethereum’s 2015 genesis sale. The whale moved 40,000 ETH from its holdings two days ago and has been moving more ETH regularly since then. 

The 40,000 ETH are now worth approximately $120 million. Instead of sending the funds to an exchange, the whale has deposited the entire balance into a staking contract. This signal’s the whale’s long-term confidence in Ethereum’s future rather than seeking profit during current market volatility. 

Renewed Activity Among Ethereum Whales

While this particular whale has staked its entire investment, other early ETH whales have taken the opposite approach. A long-time holder who accumulated 254,908 ETH during the original ICO began selling substantial amounts on November 26. The wallet initially sold 20,000 ETH, then continued liquidating until only $9.3 million in ETH remained as of this past weekend. 

Another veteran holder that has been active since 2017 previously had 154,076 ETH, and moved 18,000 ETH to the crypto exchange Bitstamp. Before this transfer, the same whale had already sold 87,824 ETH at an average price of $1,694. Recently, there have been examples of long-term holders choosing to stake rather than sell. In September, an ICO-era whale who originally purchased 1 million ETH awoke after eight years and moved 150,000 ETH into a new staking wallet. 

Top Holders Continue to Accumulate ETH

Despite some liquidation, the broader trend among major Ethereum holders appears to be one of accumulation. Data from Glassnode indicates the top 1% of ETH addresses now hold 97.6% of the supply, which is up from 96.1% last year. 

According to blockchain intelligence platform Arkham, the Eth2 Beacon Deposit Contract remains the largest holder with 72.4 million ETH, valued at around $203 billion and representing roughly 60% of all Ether. Binance follows closely behind with 4 million ETH, while asset manager BlackRock holds 3.9 million. 

The renewed activity from early investors highlights the growing divergence in whale strategies as Ethereum continues to evolve into a mature ecosystem.