With Ethereum returning to the $3,000 mark, reaching its highest point since April 2022, an early Ethereum investor, who participated in the Ethereum ICO in 2014 and had been dormant for over 8 years, suddenly transferred 1,732 ETH to Kraken last night, presumably with the intention to sell. Compared to the ICO price, the value of these ETH has increased nearly 10,000 times.
Background:
Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade, which is set to launch on March 13th, presents potential opportunities.
The Ethereum Dencun upgrade is confirmed to launch on March 13th. This upgrade will introduce EIP-4844, which will significantly enhance Ethereum’s scalability and is expected to reduce Layer2 transaction costs by 10-100 times. With the impending Dencun upgrade, Ethereum surged past $3,000 last night, reaching a new high since April 2022.
Early investor suspected of cashing out
Following Ethereum’s breakthrough of $3,000, according to Lookonchain monitoring, an Ethereum early investor who had been dormant for 8.6 years suddenly transferred 1,732 ETH to the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken last night, worth approximately $5.15 million, indicating a potential plan to cash out.
It’s worth noting that the address 0xE20BB9f3966419E14BbbaAaa6789e92496CFA479 participated in the Ethereum ICO in 2014 and received 3,465 ETH in the genesis block. Its current value is approximately $10.3 million, compared to the ICO price of around $0.31 per ETH. This represents an increase of nearly 10,000 times compared to the current price of around $3,000.
The address currently holds 1,733.12 ETH, valued at $5.2 million.
Ethereum’s ICO, which lasted for 42 days from August 2014, aimed to raise $19.7 million in crowdfunding. It was conducted in three stages, with an initial exchange rate of 2,000 ETH per BTC for the first 14 days, subsequently reduced to 1,337 ETH per BTC. In total, the ICO raised 31,000 BTC, selling 60.1 million ETH, valued at approximately $18.4 million at the time.
Further reading:
The price history of Ethereum: A rollercoaster story starting from a $0.3 crowdfunding
Approval of spot ETF expected to further boost prices
As Ethereum surpasses the $3,000 mark again, IntoTheBlock analysis suggests that currently over 16 million ETH addresses are in a loss state (about 14.7%), while around 879,000 addresses turned profitable when Ethereum broke through $3,000. With over 83% of addresses in a profitable state, it is likely that the $3,000 level will be successfully surpassed without major issues.
If Ethereum spot ETF receives approval from the SEC, it is expected to further drive up Ethereum’s price. Bernstein, a Wall Street investment bank, released a research report on Monday stating that it is now time to pay attention to Ethereum as it may be the only digital asset to obtain SEC approval for a spot ETF. Bernstein believes there is a 50% chance of Ethereum spot ETF approval and it is almost certain to be approved within the next 12 months. Bernstein praises Ethereum for its staking rewards, environmentally friendly design, and institutional usability in building new financial markets, preparing for mainstream institutional adoption. It is expected that Ethereum’s market returns will grow in sync with its market value.
Related reports:
Crypto Market Update: Ethereum surges to $2,900, reaching a 20-month high, Bitcoin nears $52,000, spot ETF sees 15 consecutive days of net inflows.
Gary Gensler: Don’t be too excited! Approving Bitcoin “does not mean” the SEC will approve Ethereum spot ETF, as the crypto asset market is filled with fraud and manipulation.
Dencun Kanqun Upgrade is imminent: How will the new EIP proposal change Ethereum?