An original Ethereum (ETH) investor deposited 6,000 ETH worth $9.96 million to the crypto exchange Kraken on Monday, according to the crypto tracker Lookonchain.
The whale participated in Ethereum’s 2014 initial coin offering (ICO), receiving 254,908 ETH when the second-largest crypto asset was only priced at $0.31.
With ETH trading at $1,647 at time of writing, that means the value of that trove of 6,000 ETH shot up by a staggering 531,361% as it sat in the whale’s care for nine years.
Blockchain-tracking service Etherscan indicates that the deep-pocketed investor paid $2.80 to process the large ETH deposit.
The whale still holds more than 49,070 ETH worth approximately $80.7 million, according to Etherscan.
On numerous occasions in the past nine years, the wallet received minuscule amounts of Ethereum, an indication of possible dusting attacks, which involve hackers and scammers sending trace amounts of a cryptocurrency (dust) to a large number of personal wallets in an attempt to break the wallet holders’ privacy.
Large holders of Ethereum displayed bearish behavior in the second and third quarters of this year, according to the crypto analytics firm Santiment.
Explained Santiment’s director of marketing Brian Quinlivan in late August,
“There has been about a 4-month-long dump in supply from addresses holding between 10 and 10,000 ETH.
They really were accumulating significantly at the end of last year, but profit taking from these key tiers happened hard and quickly right as the price was hitting around a 1-year high of approximately $2,120.”
Don't Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inboxGenerated Image: Midjourney