A big-time Ethereum (ETH) investor who had been sitting dormant for a while, and had accumulated 76,000 ETH during the 2015 ICO, has reappeared after three years of radio silence.
About an hour ago, the wallet linked to the original ICO address “0xD612” sent 6,000 ETH — about $9.55 million at the time — to a new address. Just 45 minutes later, 3,000 ETH, which is worth about $4.78 million, were moved from the new address to a known Kraken deposit address, which suggests a likely sell-off.
According to the blockchain, this whale bought ETH at the ICO price of about $0.31. At the current market price of $1,590, that is a return of over 500,000%. However, the ETH/USD market has been trending down in recent months, with Ethereum dropping below $1,600 up from $4,000. This has led to speculation that long-term holders may be moving to cash out.
The other 3,000 ETH from the first transfer is still held by address “0x4796,” so we might see more sales in the next few hours or days. So far, there have not been any other recorded activities, but everyone is keeping a close eye on the address to see what might happen next.
This is the latest in a series of reactivations by early Ethereum participants as market conditions change. We do not know yet if this signals broader distribution from ICO-era wallets, but these kinds of movements often happen before key shifts in market sentiment — especially when tied to high-volume, centralized exchange interactions.
