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A pre-mined stash of Ethereum, dormant for nearly eight years and now valued at roughly $116 million, has been moved abruptly. This transaction raises questions about potential market implications and whether it could trigger a notable price dip for Ethereum.
Eight years ago, during Ethereum’s pre-mine period, the wallet accumulated a total of 61,216 ETH. Back then, the value of the tokens was around $18,976, but due to Ethereum’s exponential growth, the value has now escalated over a thousandfold.
Stirring From Dormancy
The ETH in question, stashed in a single wallet address, has remained untouched since it was pre-mined. But in an unexpected move, all 61,216 ETH were transferred to an address associated with the Kraken crypto exchange. This transfer marks the end of an eight-year-long dormancy.
💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 💤 A dormant pre-mine address containing 61,216 #ETH (116,396,127 USD) has just been activated after 8.0 years!https://t.co/f79T0fYa7b
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 18, 2023
Rewinding to June 2014, the Ethereum network staged a unique sale event. As the network was yet to begin generating tokens autonomously, this event served as an opportunity for early team members and co-founders to accumulate pre-mined ETH.
At this point in time, ETH was trading at the price of $0.31, thus valuing this particular collection of 61,216 ETH at an estimated $18,976. Fast forward to the present day, and the value of these same tokens has skyrocketed to approximately $116.9 million.
This dramatic surge in ETH’s price over the years underscores the substantial growth and adoption of Ethereum’s network. Consequently, the recent movement of this significant ETH stash has piqued the interest of the crypto community, eager to understand the potential implications of this action.
Major Ethereum Dip Imminent?
Typically, large transfers of a cryptocurrency to an exchange can indicate an intent to sell, and this can potentially put downward pressure on the price if the amount being sold is significant compared to the overall trading volume.
However, it is worth noting that not all large deposit into the exchange means a potential fall for the crypto being transferred as the person or entity transferring the ETH might not sell immediately or might decide to sell gradually to minimize market impact.
Related Reading: Ethereum Price Is Showing Early Signs of Fresh Increase, But This Resistance Is Key
Also, it is worth analyzing how the whale ended up depositing its pre-mined ETH into the exchange. Etherscan data verifies the transaction, which occurred on July 18. The operation of moving is $116.9 million in ETH and required a negligible fee of $1.68 and 25.475673161 Gwei in gas price.
The identity of the wallet owner remains a mystery and their cautious approach is noteworthy, as they ensured to avoid human errors that could result in substantial loss. They did this by first sending a small test transaction of 0.05 ETH to the Kraken address before moving the entire lot.
The transaction has also highlighted the value of HODL-ling, a strategy that emphasizes the long-term accumulation of crypto tokens. It underscores how patience can lead to significant gains in the volatile world of crypto.
Nonetheless, Ethereum price is up 0.7% in the past 24 hours, indicating that the whale might be yet to make any move with its deposited ETH. The second largest asset currently trades at a price of $1,910, at the time of writing with a 24-hour trading volume of $7.4 billion
Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView
