According to Lookonchain analysis, a wallet linked to the Ethereum Initial Coin Offering (ICO) that had been dormant for over a decade suddenly became active, moving its entire 40,000 $ETH holding, worth approximately $120 million, to a new address and immediately deploying the assets into staking.
The original wallet, which acquired the tokens during Ethereum’s genesis block launch in July 2015 for an initial cost of about $12,000, transferred the funds earlier this week. This action is a powerful sign of long-term conviction, as the holder chose to lock up the significant sum to secure the network rather than sell the tokens, which is often the expected behaviour when a whale wallet wakes from such a long period of inactivity.
The decision to stake the entire $120 million is a major endorsement of Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake mechanism and its long-term financial viability. The move suggests the whale is committed to actively participating in the network’s decentralized governance and earning staking rewards, which is a bullish indicator for the ecosystem. This incident comes amid considerable market attention on the movements of other large crypto holders, with some analysts linking recent price fluctuations to the selling activity of older wallets.
Ethereum ICO wallet (0x2dCA) with 40,000 $ETH($120M) woke up after 10+ years of dormancy — and instead of selling, he staked the $ETH.https://t.co/AreBCXNG4Thttps://t.co/OWpE8REjVw pic.twitter.com/pPZVwkkB1A
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 1, 2025
Also Read: Bitcoin and Ethereum Still Too Volatile for Mainstream Use in Switzerland – SNB Chairman
Contrasting institutional commitment and market sentiment
The whale’s decision to stake contrasts sharply with the actions of other early Ethereum holders who have recently opted to liquidate portions of their long-held tokens. For example, another ICO-era wallet with 254,908 $ETH began selling its assets in late November, steadily reducing its holdings.
Furthermore, a different large holder, who began accumulating $ETH in 2017, transferred 18,000 tokens to the exchange Bitstamp, having previously sold a significant amount at an average price of $1,694.
This different behaviour shows a divide in the sentiment of early participants where some are realizing life-changing gains, while others are doubling down on their investment thesis by securing their assets to the network’s long-term infrastructure. The action of the $120 million whale aligns with the overall trend of top $ETH addresses continuing to accumulate, with the supply held by the top 1% of addresses rising to 97.6% over the last year.
In another development, Nasdaq-listed BitMine Immersion Technologies has shifted its focus from Bitcoin mining to becoming a major institutional holder of Ethereum. The company recently completed a $44 million acquisition, boosting its ETH reserves to approximately 3% of the total circulating supply. This substantial accumulation, coupled with the company’s plans for large-scale staking, leads analysts to believe that similar corporate interest could potentially trigger an Ethereum “supercycle.”
Early ETH investor locks in massive gains
An early participant in Ethereum’s initial coin offering (ICO) has made headlines after offloading millions of dollars’ worth of Ether, marking another notable exit from a long-term holder.
According to on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain, the wallet, linked to Ethereum’s early fundraising days, moved 18,500 ETH, valued at approximately $38.1 million, to a secondary address.
From there, about 11,552 ETH, worth roughly $23.4 million, was gradually sold across multiple transactions at an average price of $2,027. The move shows a strategic profit-taking approach rather than a single bulk sell-off, suggesting the investor aimed to minimize market impact.
An Ethereum ICO participant (0xd64A) sold 11,552 $ETH($23.42M) at $2,027 in the past 1 hour.
This OG invested $12K in the Ethereum ICO to buy 38,800 $ETH($79.54M now) at $0.31.https://t.co/DtIKN4mEpLhttps://t.co/jD80KlqcvB pic.twitter.com/I08Lce3VEq
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 27, 2026
The same wallet originally acquired 38,800 ETH for just $12,000 during Ethereum’s ICO roughly a decade ago, when tokens were priced at $0.31. At today’s prices, that original stash would be valued at close to $80 million, highlighting the immense gains realized by early adopters of the network.
As more legacy wallets become active, the market may continue to see intermittent selling pressure, though it also signals enduring confidence from investors who held through Ethereum’s entire evolution.
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