Sleeping Ethereum (ETH) Whale Wakes Up With 787,000% Gains

An Ethereum whale has recently woken up a decade after its Initial Coin offering (ICO) by moving 1 ETH, in what seems to be a test transaction. The whale wallet, which originally held 1,000 ETH purchased during the Genesis event for just $310, moved 1 ETH today, and is already sitting on a massive 787,000% gains as of the current ETH price of $2,502. This development has sparked discussions about whether a major whale dump is coming anytime soon.

Ethereum Whale From ICO Era Mints 787,000% Gains

An earlier Ethereum ICO participant, holding more than 1,000 ETH, recently woke up after a decade, sparking discussions within the community. The Ethereum whale wallet purchased this ETH at the Genesis event, for a meager investment of $310,as per the Etherscan data.

At current market prices, the wallet’s holdings are valued at $2.44 million, representing an extraordinary 7,870x return on the initial investment. The ETH whale activity has surged in recent weeks, showcasing mixed behaviour. Last week, a whale entity purchased $10 million worth of ETH.

Moreover, Ethereum whales from the Genesis era have also turned active as ETH price enters a long consolidation around $2,500. Back in mid-June, a similar Ethereum whale woke up after 10 years of dormancy.

The wallet originally received 2,000 ETH during Ethereum’s Genesis event, purchased for just $620. Today, those holdings are valued at an impressive $5.03 million, highlighting the incredible appreciation of Ethereum since its early days.

ETH Profit Taking Ahead?

ETH price has been flirting around $2,500 levels for a very long time, and this recent whale activity has sparked discussions of ETH profit booking. As of now, the ICO-era whales are just nibbling around; however, any potential upside could be met with selling pressure from them.

Furthermore, on-chain data also shows that there’s a record number of short positions building up for ETH at this moment. Any upside could potentially lead to a major short-squeeze from here.

During the second quarter of 2025, the ETH price delivered nearly 35% gains. This comes along with strong inflows into spot Ethereum ETFs. Last week, Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) reported net weekly inflows of $283 million, led by BlackRock’s ETHA, marking seven consecutive weeks of positive growth.