ETH ICO Whale Offloads 76k Coins, Ethereum Price To Decline?

An ETH ICO investor who participated in the project’s 2015 Initial Coin Offering has sold off 76,000 units of the digital currency, fueling speculations of what it means for Ethereum price. . This selloff, after a decade of HODLing has raised concerns in the digital asset market about the sentiment among foundational ETH whales.

The ETH ICO Whale Selloff

According to an X update from @ai_9684xtpa, the early Ethereum backer purchased each ETH for just $0.31 per coin. This earlier investor has now wrapped up a two-week-long selloff. The final transfer happened shortly after the social media platform made the development known. The report shows that 2,000 ETH was sent to Kraken for $3.66 million. 

It is worth noting that this transfer followed several large transactions. On April 30, the ETH ICO whale moved 3,000 ETH to the crypto exchange for $5.39 million. Another 3,000 ETH went to the exchange on May 2, bringing in $5.53 million. Three days before that, a similar transaction fetched $5.39 million.

The earliest move in these two weeks involved sending 8,000 ETH, worth around $12.74 million, to another wallet. Smaller movements, like 0.01 ETH worth $15.93, were also recorded.

Another notable transaction involved 6,000 ETH, valued at roughly $9.55 million. With ETH trading at $1,834.18 on the day of the final transfer, the whale’s decade-long hold paid off. Such massive selloffs often trigger panic, especially when they come from long-term holders.

Implication for Ethereum Price

As of this writing, the Ethereum price is under mild bearish pressure. The coin has seen a pullback from its earlier this year’s high value above $2,000. 

CoinMarketCap data shows the price was trading at $1,831.0, marking a 1.72% drop in the past 24 hours. Besides the ETH ICO investor selloff, general whale activity suggests institutional confidence is still growing.

For example, in the past three weeks, ETH whales accumulated the coin, spending over $1 billion.

Still, there are signs of weakness on the Ethereum price charts. A bearish divergence teased by the RSI hints that more corrections may be near. Analysts predict if momentum fails to pick up, Ethereum could revisit the $1,400 range, though some remain hopeful for a bounce back to $2,000 or even $4,000 if market sentiment shifts.

The Vitalik Buterin Simplicity Plans

In other news besides the ETH ICO whale selloff, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a major overhaul of the blockchain’s structure. In a new plan, he aims to simplify Ethereum so that it is as understandable as Bitcoin. 

He believes the system is too complex, leading to high development costs and increased security risks. His proposal includes revamping both the consensus and execution layers. 

This includes shifting to 3-slot finality and replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine with a simpler model like RISC-V. While this may not affect Ethereum’s price immediately, Buterin expects it could bring long-term benefits and renewed trust in the protocol’s future.