$31,000 Turned into $238 Million: A Position Opened 12 Years Ago Just Moved
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On-chain monitoring firm Lookonchain revealed that an ancient wallet that bought 100,000 ETH at an average price of $0.31 during Ethereum’s 2014 ICO sold 1,000 ETH seven hours ago. At the current price of $2,379, that sale was worth about $2.38 million.
The key isn’t how much he sold, but that he sold just 1% 🐋
This wallet still holds 99,000 ETH, worth about $235 million at current prices. The entire position is up roughly 7,674x. From a cost basis of $31,000 to a market value of $238 million, Ethereum has delivered a return of nearly 8,000x over twelve years.
But what’s really worth watching is the timing, not the numbers themselves.
ICO-era holders have a near-zero cost basis. For them, selling at any price means a profit. So to judge whether they’re about to exit, you can’t just look at how much they sold—you need to look at how they’re selling. Selling everything at once is bearish; selling in batches to test the waters is a way to gauge liquidity. This time, he moved just 1%—more like putting a small amount on the order book to see how much the market can absorb before deciding the size of the next batch.
And the timing is particularly interesting. Ethereum is currently at $2,379, down 1.19% over 24 hours. Bitcoin is at $80,863, down 1.14% over 24 hours. The whole market is moving sideways in weak conditions. He didn’t choose to sell into a rebound; he tested the waters as trading volume dwindled ⚠️
My take: this trade alone won’t make waves. $2.38 million is barely a ripple in Ethereum’s order book. But its significance as a signal outweighs its financial impact. Ancient wallets are among the market’s last diamond hands. When they start moving, it suggests that even people with virtually no cost basis are reassessing the cost of holding.
A more practical point: if this wallet sells at a pace of 1,000 ETH per week, that would amount to 52,000 ETH in a year—nearly half the position. This kind of selling doesn’t need to crash the price all at once, but it can keep putting a ceiling on every rebound 📉
So don’t rush to treat this as bearish, but don’t dismiss it as irrelevant either. What really matters is whether this wallet makes a second or third sale over the next week. If this was just a one-off test, it’s normal portfolio rebalancing. If the selling becomes consistent, that’s a whole different story 🦖
Do you think this is an old-school investor cashing out, or an early exit ahead of a bear market? Let’s talk in the comments.
Every day, I bring you updates on on-chain whales and Ethereum developments. It’s not just about what’s happening in the news—I’ll also help you understand the logic and opportunities behind it 👀🚀
Tap the profile picture to watch the livestream
👥 一起来群里抬杠
On-chain monitoring firm Lookonchain revealed that an ancient wallet that bought 100,000 ETH at an average price of $0.31 during Ethereum’s 2014 ICO sold 1,000 ETH seven hours ago. At the current price of $2,379, that sale was worth about $2.38 million.
The key isn’t how much he sold, but that he sold just 1% 🐋
This wallet still holds 99,000 ETH, worth about $235 million at current prices. The entire position is up roughly 7,674x. From a cost basis of $31,000 to a market value of $238 million, Ethereum has delivered a return of nearly 8,000x over twelve years.
But what’s really worth watching is the timing, not the numbers themselves.
ICO-era holders have a near-zero cost basis. For them, selling at any price means a profit. So to judge whether they’re about to exit, you can’t just look at how much they sold—you need to look at how they’re selling. Selling everything at once is bearish; selling in batches to test the waters is a way to gauge liquidity. This time, he moved just 1%—more like putting a small amount on the order book to see how much the market can absorb before deciding the size of the next batch.
And the timing is particularly interesting. Ethereum is currently at $2,379, down 1.19% over 24 hours. Bitcoin is at $80,863, down 1.14% over 24 hours. The whole market is moving sideways in weak conditions. He didn’t choose to sell into a rebound; he tested the waters as trading volume dwindled ⚠️
My take: this trade alone won’t make waves. $2.38 million is barely a ripple in Ethereum’s order book. But its significance as a signal outweighs its financial impact. Ancient wallets are among the market’s last diamond hands. When they start moving, it suggests that even people with virtually no cost basis are reassessing the cost of holding.
A more practical point: if this wallet sells at a pace of 1,000 ETH per week, that would amount to 52,000 ETH in a year—nearly half the position. This kind of selling doesn’t need to crash the price all at once, but it can keep putting a ceiling on every rebound 📉
So don’t rush to treat this as bearish, but don’t dismiss it as irrelevant either. What really matters is whether this wallet makes a second or third sale over the next week. If this was just a one-off test, it’s normal portfolio rebalancing. If the selling becomes consistent, that’s a whole different story 🦖
Do you think this is an old-school investor cashing out, or an early exit ahead of a bear market? Let’s talk in the comments.
Every day, I bring you updates on on-chain whales and Ethereum developments. It’s not just about what’s happening in the news—I’ll also help you understand the logic and opportunities behind it 👀🚀
Tap the profile picture to watch the livestream