Key Points
- An Ethereum whale recently sold 18,700 ETH, worth roughly $34.11 million, on Kraken.
- The sale comes as the Ethereum Pectra upgrade nears, causing exchanges like Binance to temporarily suspend Ethereum-based token transactions.
An Ethereum investor, who has been holding onto their assets for a long time, recently decided to unload a substantial amount of Ether (ETH) on Kraken. This individual, often referred to as a ‘whale’, sold 18,700 ETH, which is approximately valued at $34.11 million. The whale is believed to have initially acquired the Ether during Ethereum’s 2015 Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
Timing of the Sale
This significant sale of ETH comes at a pivotal moment, as the Ethereum Pectra upgrade is set to roll out soon. As a result of this upgrade and the impending hard fork, several cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, have announced temporary suspensions for transactions involving Ethereum-based tokens.
The whale’s initial purchase of Ether took place during the 2015 ICO, at which time each Ether was priced at a mere $0.31. The whale bought approximately 76,000 ETH and kept the associated wallet inactive for several years. However, recently the wallet started transferring ETH to the Kraken exchange.
Recent Whale Activities
An on-chain analyst reported that the whale also transferred an additional 2,700 ETH, which is worth around $4.96 million, to Kraken. This action follows a trend of significant sell-offs that have taken place in the past few weeks.
Initially, the whale sold 14,000 ETH for $24.75 million and has since continued to sell more in subsequent batches. All of these sales were conducted through Kraken. Considering the initial purchase price of $0.31 per ETH, the whale has made considerable profits from these transactions.
Reports suggest that the whale currently has 11,000 ETH left, valued at approximately $20.2 million. It is still uncertain whether they plan to sell the remaining holdings. If recent activity is any indication, this may not be the final ETH sale from the whale.
These sales are happening as Ethereum is about to undergo a major upgrade, during a period of reduced spot trading volume. The upcoming upgrade is expected to enhance the network’s overall functionality by introducing improved scaling capabilities, more efficient staking options, and advanced infrastructure enhancements.
Adding to the market anticipation, the ETH-BTC Bollinger Bands are currently at their tightest since June 2020, a technical signal that often precedes a spike in volatility. Traders are closely watching the ETH-BTC pair, expecting increased price movement following the upgrade.
