Whale Movement in the Crypto Market: 5,000 ETH Deposit by Early Investor

Whale Movement in the Crypto Market

A notable whale, who had acquired an impressive 1 million ether (ETH) tokens during the network’s initial coin offering (ICO) back in 2014, recently made headlines by depositing 5,000 ETH—valued at approximately $13.2 million—to the crypto exchange OKX earlier this week. This particular whale has shown significant activity, having deposited a total of 48,500 ETH, which amounts to over $154 million, to OKX over the past 35 days. The average price at which these tokens were deposited stands at $3,176, as revealed by blockchain data.

The whale originally obtained the ETH at a mere $0.31 per token during the ICO, which has led to substantial gains over the years. The deposits were made to the OKX address “0x6eb6ae5f1027e190adcc7b66d3aa8f14a7677faf,” utilizing a GnosisSafe wallet, a method confirmed by the on-chain tracking tool AMLBot in a recent message to CoinDesk.

The identity of the wallet owner remains a mystery, but it currently retains over 15,600 ETH, worth approximately $41 million, within the GnosisSafe wallet. Such large-scale movements by early participants in the crypto space are relatively rare and often stir speculation about the holder’s intentions. These could range from preparing to sell tokens, staking on an exchange, or diversifying into other cryptocurrencies.

Investors who hold substantial amounts of tokens in their digital wallets are commonly referred to as “whales.” Their significant holdings can exert considerable influence over market prices and overall sentiment surrounding a particular token. As of late, ETH prices have experienced a downturn of 14% over the past 30 days, as reported by CoinGecko data, in stark contrast to Bitcoin’s 3% increase during the same timeframe.

(Reporting by Oliver Knight)