Two Ethereum ETH/USD whale investors, inactive for six years, were suspected of booking hundreds of millions in profits by selling the second-largest cryptocurrency just before the big market crash on Sunday.
What Happened: The two wallets deposited 135,548 ETH, worth $399 million, to cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex eight hours before the overnight crash, according to on-chain tracker Spot On Chain. The wallets originally withdrew ETH at just $153.65 on Jan. 5, 2019, when the stash was worth $20.8 million.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the investors offloaded the entire stockpile. But if they did, they’d be netting a profit of $378.3 million.
See Also: Elon Musk Says Treasury Officials ‘Breaking The Law Every Hour’ By Approving Fraudulent Payments — DOGE Lead Wants A Blockchain Fix
The whale movement was not an isolated incident but rather a market-wide phenomena. Large Ether transactions worth more than $100,000 soared by 72.35% in the last 24 hours, according to IntoTheBlock.
Additionally, more than $320 million worth of Ether entered exchanges on a net basis, nearly tripling from the previous day. The sharp jump in deposits indicated potential sell-offs.
Why It Matters: The movement of these Ethereum wallets comes amid one of the biggest falls in the cryptocurrency market in recent memory.
Bitcoin BTC/USD crashed below $92,000 for the first time since January 13, while Ethereum sank to a nearly 3-month low. Cryptocurrency liquidations topped $2 billion in the last 24 hours, the worst single-day liquidation event for the market.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Ethereum was exchanging hands at $2,580.72. down 16.46% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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