Dormant Ethereum Wallets From ICO Era Coming To Live

• In anticipation of spot Ethereum ETF trading approval from the US SEC, several dormant wallets belonging to Ethereum whales have seen activity.

The broad crypto industry is expecting the green light for spot Ethereum ETF trading. It was earlier speculated that the Commission would give approval for the offering to go live on July 15 but it was not exactly so.

In anticipation of spot Ethereum ETF trading approval from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), several dormant wallets belonging to Ethereum whales have seen activity. These whales have begun to transfer their holdings to new wallets across different exchanges.

Ethereum Whales Moving ETH to Kraken

On-chain data from Spot On Chain shows that two Ethereum whales from the project’s Initial Coin Offering (ICO) era have offloaded 3,631 ETH on the Kraken exchange.

Two #Ethereum Foundation/ICO-related wallets deposited 3,631 $ETH ($12.5M) to #Kraken in the past 2 days as the market rebounded:

1️⃣ Wallet 0xdb3 unloaded 2,631 $ETH ($9.01M).

• It received $ETH from the Ethereum Foundation and Ethereum ICO participant 0xAb0.

• Since June 8,… pic.twitter.com/rpEC1Fe4jj

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) July 17, 2024

The 3,631 ETH, valued at approximately $12.5 million at the time of transfer, went to Kraken in separate transactions within two days. 

One of the wallets labeled 0xdb3, unloaded 2,631 ETH and this holding was worth $9.01 million. The wallet 0xbf5 also unloaded 1,000 ETH, valued at $3.46 million. This brought the total Ethereum offloaded to $12.5 million.

It is worth noting that the 2,631 ETH is not the only asset that has left the 0xdb3 wallet recently. Over the years, this wallet has been seen receiving Ethereum from both the Ethereum Foundation as well as the ICO participant 0xAb0. 

Since June 8 to this time, a total of 17,886 ETH, equivalent to $65 million have been deposited by wallet “0xdb3” to various Centralized Exchanges (CEX).

The Ethereum in the other whale’s wallet was from ICO participant 0x510. Noteworthy, the owner of this wallet originally acquired 100,000 ETH during the Genesis event in 2015. 

After numerous transfers including the recent movement of 1,000 ETH, the wallet still holds 49,000 ETH, per data from Spot On Chain.

According to the current market value of 1 unit of Ethereum at $3,494.30 with a 2.31% increase within the last 24 hours, this holding is worth approximately $171.2 million.

Anticipation for Spot Ethereum ETF Trading Approval Continues

The broad crypto industry is expecting the green light for spot Ethereum ETF trading. It was earlier speculated that the Commission would give approval for the offering to go live on July 15 but it was not exactly so. Still, there is an expectation that the approval will come soon. The focus is now on July 23, the new scheduled date for trading approval.

It is worth noting that the Ethereum whale transfers may be due to fear of volatility and a bearish run ahead. 

However, ETH is currently demonstrating a positive sentiment with a possibility of extending its price rally to up to $4,500, according to some analysts. Once the spot Ethereum ETF trading goes live, the altcoin may record more uptrend.

A few market observers are optimistic that Ethereum may even outperform Bitcoin in the long run. 

This is not to overlook the possibility of a stall in the price of ETH or even a ‘sell the news’ potential. For now, the focus is on the Commission and its final decision on spot Ethereum ETFs.