Dormant Whale Sells 350 ETH for Amazing 446x Profit Gain

A seasoned Ethereum (ETH) investor who acquired 16,636 ETH back in 2016 has divested a portion of their assets, showcasing an incredible return on investment.

As per on-chain data disclosed by EmberCN, the whale initially purchased the Ethereum at $5.23 each, amounting to a total of $87,135. As of September 16, 2024, that same quantity of ETH is valued at over $37.6 million, illustrating an impressive 446x increase in worth.

Passive Investor Realizes $819K Gain

The investor, who retained their Ethereum for nearly eight and a half years, transferred all 16,636 ETH to a new wallet prior to selling 350 ETH at a price of $2,340 each, achieving a profit of roughly $819,000.

This transaction occurred while ETH was priced around $2,300, down from its recent one-month peak of $2,820. Nevertheless, even with the price drop, the whale’s long-term holding strategy has proven to be tremendously rewarding. Their transaction follows a string of significant Ethereum movements from other previously inactive wallets.

Recently, multiple large dormant addresses have become active again, with massive amounts of ETH being transferred after prolonged inactivity. For instance, on August 7, over 789,000 ETH, valued at $2 billion, were transferred from wallets that had been inactive for 3.3 years. These wallets were associated with the notorious PlusToken Ponzi scheme that was dismantled by Chinese authorities in November 2020.

This movement sparked interest within the cryptocurrency community, leading many to speculate whether the Chinese government was considering a strategy similar to Germany’s, which sold nearly 50,000 BTC seized from criminal activities.

In another noteworthy case, a wallet holding over 2,000 ETH, last active during the Ethereum Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2014, reactivated on August 26 after more than nine years of dormancy. The contents, initially worth $620, are now valued at over $5 million.

Long-Term ETH Holders Reap Profits

At the time of this writing, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has seen a decline of 5.3% in its price over the last 24 hours.

The losses are more pronounced over the past month, with ETH prices experiencing an 11.8% drop during that period. Furthermore, despite a slight 0.2% uptick in the last seven days, ETH is underperforming the overall crypto market, which has increased by at least 1.30%.

That being said, data indicates that a significant number of cryptocurrency holders are still profitable. According to IntoTheBlock, 54% of ETH owners are in the green at the current price, with 74% holding onto their investments for over a year.