Ancient Ethereum ICO Participant Suddenly Wakes Up

An Ethereum initial coin offering (ICO) participant who has been dormant for nearly nine years has transferred a whopping 2,000 ETH out of their wallet. This sum is currently valued at approximately $6.7 million, according to blockchain sleuth Lookonchain.

At press time, the price of the second-largest cryptocurrency is sitting at $3,354 on major spot exchanges.

Similar transfers

This event is not isolated. Several other Ethereum ICO participants have reemerged after years of dormancy to move their ETH holdings.

For instance, on Feb. 20, another participant deposited 1,732 ETH to Kraken following Ethereum's price surge past $3,000.

Earlier, on Nov. 29, 2023, a transaction involving 3,000 ETH deposited to Kraken was recorded from an account that received 20,000 ETH at Ethereum's Genesis.

Such movements have varied in nature: from large deposits to exchanges like Kraken to diversification across multiple addresses.

Possible reasons

One of the most straightforward reasons for these transactions is the realization of profits. Early investors in Ethereum who purchased ETH at or near its ICO price have seen the value of their holdings increase exponentially. With the current price of ETH significantly higher than at its inception, selling or transferring these holdings can secure substantial profits.

Individuals may also transact large amounts of ETH to meet liquidity needs for personal or business reasons. Market sentiment and even technical upgrades might also play a role in this.

Notably, the latest ICO-era address was activated shortly following the Dencun upgrade. The upgrade is expected to revolutionize the network by significantly reducing rollup transaction fees and accelerating blockchain operations. It could lower the costs associated with using popular rollups like Arbitrum, Optimism and Starknet by introducing larger data packets known as "blobs."