Ethereum Co-Founder, Whales Move ETH as Ethereum Hits New 2025 High

Ethereum’s rally to a new 2025 high is drawing major whale moves. Co-founder Jeffrey Wilcke, BitMEX’s Arthur Hayes, and ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees have executed multimillion-dollar ETH trades within days.

Wilcke’s $9.22M ETH Transfer Coincides with Ethereum’s Breakout

Ethereum co-founder Jeffrey Wilcke has moved 9,840 ETH, valued at $9.22 million, into Kraken amid Ethereum reaching a new 2025 high. The deposit occurred about an hour ago, according to Lookonchain data.

This follows his earlier transfer of 105,737 ETH to eight newly created wallets three months ago. Despite the latest transaction, Wilcke still holds 95,897 ETH worth roughly $401.6 million.

Wilcke’s transfer stands out given the timing with Ethereum’s recent breakout. Ethereum price is $4,196.30, its highest price this year and in the past 24 hours, it increased by 5.52%.

The recent move is a continuation of the momentum that commenced when Ethereum surpassed $4,000 yesterday. The high trading activity and the renewed investor demand have enabled the coin to maintain its robust performance. The sustained strength has kept Ethereum on track to potentially test higher resistance levels if buying momentum continues.

According to Arkham Intelligence, crypto whale ‘7 siblings’ is also selling ETH. The whale recently transferred $47 million in ETH to a new wallet and has sold $17.2 million worth of these coins so far.

Hayes Buys Back ETH as Voorhees Cashes Out Millions

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, sold 2,373 ETH worth $8.32 million a week ago when Ethereum traded near $3,507. Four hours ago, Lookonchain data recorded his movement of 10.5 million USDC to repurchase ETH at a higher price.

Hayes confirmed the buyback on social media, humorously asking for forgiveness for taking profits earlier.

A new Lookonchain data shows wallet 0xF436 withdrew 17,655 ETH worth $72.7 million from exchanges in the past 18 hours, likely for SharpLink Gaming. Another whale, 0x3684, spent 34 million USDT to acquire 8,109 ETH at $4,193 each.

These large buys suggest continued confidence in the asset’s short-term performance despite recent profit-taking by other major holders. Erik Voorhees, early Bitcoin advocate and founder of ShapeShift, sold 6,581 ETH valued at $27.38 million today when Ethereum was at $4,161.

He first received 14,945 ETH nine years ago from ShapeShift when the token was priced at just $7.74. That original amount was worth $115,600 then and is valued at $62.68 million at current prices.

His last major sale occurred on December 6, 2024, when he sold 7,807 ETH for $31.27 million at $4,005. After the transaction today, Voorhees still holds 556.68 ETH worth $2.33 million.

While the buys indicate confidence in continued price growth, Voorhees and Wilcke’s sales add to ongoing whale profit-taking at multi-month highs. As of now, strong demand continues to absorb the supply, as observed in the continued rally in the ETH price.