Yet another long-dormant Ethereum whale has woken up from hibernation, according to data provided by Lookonchain.
The wallet in question (0x2dCA…) is reportedly from an early Ethereum ICO.
According to the data, the owner initially invested around $12,400 and received 40,000 ETH. Currently, its value is approximately $119.5 million.
After more than a decade of inactivity, the wallet performed a test transfer of 5 ETH (approximately $15,000) to a new address, which is pretty remarkable.
Shortly after, the remaining 39,995 ETH was moved to another wallet (0x2602…).
Looking at the history of blockchain, we see many similar cases where long-dormant wallets “wake up”.
Over the past few months, several Ethereum ICO-era wallets have been relaunched after more than a decade of hiatus. On August 11th, a participant holding 20,000 ETH (initial investment of $6,200) sold 2,300 ETH ($9.91 million). Another participant who originally purchased 100,000 ETH for $31,000 on August 13th has sold 44,284 ETH ($105 million) since 2021, and recently sold another 4,283 ETH ($18.97 million). On August 16th, a wallet holding 334.7 ETH ($1.48 million) purchased for $104 transferred all of its funds for the first time in over 10 years.
What is the background to this transfer?
Typical explanations and presumed motivations include regaining access to an old private key or seed word.
Some early investors may have lost track of their wallets and seed phrases. Therefore, reactivation may occur when access is eventually restored.
Such transfers can also be used for redistribution or consolidation.
It is unclear whether they will sell it on an exchange, hold it in a new wallet, stake it, or move it off-chain. Unless funds flow into a centralized exchange, the intent remains highly speculative.
