Nine-Year Inactive Ethereum Whale Transfers $250 Million in Ether to Gemini: On-Chain Data

A long-dormant Ethereum address, inactive for nine years, has moved 85,000 ETH—valued at nearly $250 million—to the Gemini exchange. The wallet, which had accumulated its holdings in 2017, marks a significant event in the crypto space. Meanwhile, Ethereum's price activity suggests ongoing volatility in the market.

Key Takeaways

An Ethereum whale transferred 85,000 ETH worth about $250 million to Gemini after being inactive for nine years.
The whale originally purchased 135,000 ETH at $90 each in 2017, resulting in a massive profit.
Ethereum’s price has faced downward pressure, with a recent decline of over 7%, trading below the $2,800 mark.
Daily active addresses have risen to approximately 1.3 million, and staking participation is also increasing.
Analysts warn that Ethereum may be heading towards the lower end of its established trading range.

ETH whale

Dormant Ethereum Whale Moves Funds to Gemini

An Ethereum whale, using the address "0xb5a…168d6," that has remained inactive for nine years, has recently transferred 85,000 ETH—approximately $250 million—entirely to the Gemini exchange on Tuesday. According to blockchain tracking platform EmberCN, this whale wallet initially accumulated 135,000 ETH at a price of $90 each on Bitfinex in 2017. At that time, the total value of these holdings was around $12.17 million.

After its long dormancy, the whale completed the full transfer of its ETH holdings, which are now valued at $393 million, in just over a single day.

Mass ETH Transfers to Gemini

Data from Arkham indicates that the address first moved 50,000 ETH to Gemini on Monday, followed by a subsequent transaction of 25,000 ETH early this week. The whale then transferred the remaining 60,283 ETH, which alone was valued at $175.23 million. Post-transfer, the address holds around $70 worth of various alternative cryptocurrencies.

EmberCN's report also emphasized that the whale realized a profit of nearly $381 million, translating to a 32-fold return on the investment held for nine years. This significant movement of ETH follows a similar case where a Bitcoin wallet transferred 909 BTC—worth over $84 million—after 12 years of dormancy.

Ethereum's Market Performance

Recently, Ethereum has been facing challenges, evidenced by a decline of more than 7%, pushing its value below the $2,800 mark. However, the cryptocurrency has made a slight rebound and is currently trading at $2,934.

This downward trend is largely attributed to heavy selling related to ETFs, which has limited price momentum and kept ETH prices below the crucial $3,000 milestone. Despite these challenges, on-chain activity suggests that daily active addresses have increased significantly, approaching 1.3 million.

Additionally, staking participation has seen a rise, contributing to a tightened circulating supply of ETH. For example, Tom Lee's BitMine has staked a total of 2,218,771 ETH, equivalent to $6.52 billion, which represents over 52% of its total holdings. This includes a recent staking of 209,504 ETH valued at $610 million today.

However, Mike McGlone, a senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, has raised concerns about Ethereum's potential to drift downward. He highlighted in a post on X that ETH seems to be moving towards the lower end of its long-established trading range, which has been between $2,000 and $4,000 since 2023. He further noted, "I see greater risks of it staying below $2,000 than above $4,000, especially when stock market volatility rebounds."