Ethereum Whale Awakens After Decade of Silence, Stakes $120 Million in ETH

Tuesday Dec 2 2025 04:50

Duration

2 min

  1. 1. Ethereum Whale Stakes $120 Million After Decade of Hibernation

  2. 1.1 Doubling Down on Ethereum

  3. 1.2 Contrasting Actions by Other OG Wallets

  4. 1.3 Top Addresses Continue to Accumulate

  5. 1.4 Ethereum Distribution

Ethereum Whale Stakes $120 Million After Decade of Hibernation

An Ethereum whale has emerged from a decade-long dormancy with a surprising move: deploying its entire stash of Ether into staking. The wallet holds 40,000 ETH tokens, originally purchased for approximately $12,000 during Ethereum’s genesis block launch in July 2015, according to data from Lookonchain. The current value of this holding is a staggering $120 million.

Doubling Down on Ethereum

Instead of transferring the funds to a cryptocurrency exchange deposit address for potential liquidation, this ICO-era whale has committed the entirety of its ETH holdings to staking. This decision suggests a significant increase in confidence in the long-term prospects of Ethereum. Recent market chatter has focused on large crypto whales selling off their assets, with some analysts attributing recent price volatility to these actions.

Contrasting Actions by Other OG Wallets

In contrast, other early Ethereum investors (OGs) have taken different approaches. One OG wallet, which accumulated 254,908 ETH during the Ether ICO, initiated a selling spree on November 26th. An initial sale saw 20,000 ETH liquidated, followed by a steady reduction in holdings, leaving the wallet with just $9.3 million in ETH as of Saturday. Simultaneously, another OG investor who accumulated 154,076 ETH beginning in 2017, transferred 18,000 tokens to the Bitstamp exchange. This whale had previously sold off 87,824 ETH at an average price of $1,694.

Top Addresses Continue to Accumulate

While some early Ethereum whales may be selling, data indicates that top Ethereum addresses are continuing to accumulate. Last Wednesday, the supply of Ether held by the top 1% of addresses increased to 97.6%, up from 96.1% a year ago, according to data from Glassnode. This suggests a concentration of wealth and continued belief in the asset by the largest holders.

Ethereum Distribution

The Eth2 Beacon Deposit Contract holds the largest amount of Ether, with 72.4 million, worth approximately $203 billion, representing around 60% of the total supply, according to Arkham Intelligence. Crypto exchange Binance holds the second-largest amount with 4 million ETH, while asset manager BlackRock holds 3.9 million ETH, completing the top three holdings.

Risk Warning: this article represents only the author’s views and is for reference only. It does not constitute investment advice or financial guidance, nor does it represent the stance of the Markets.com platform.When considering shares, indices, forex (foreign exchange) and commodities for trading and price predictions, remember that trading CFDs involves a significant degree of risk and could result in capital loss.Past performance is not indicative of any future results. This information is provided for informative purposes only and should not be construed to be investment advice. Trading cryptocurrency CFDs and spread bets is restricted for all UK retail clients. 

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Written by:

Liam James

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