Recent activity in the Ethereum market has attracted attention as one investor, who participated in the 2014 ICO, has moved some of their assets after a long silence.
Return of the Ethereum ICO Whale
An Ethereum investor who took part in the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2014 has reactivated after eight years of inactivity. The whale received one million ETH for around $310,000 during the ICO. Today, that same amount of ETH is worth about $4.3 billion.
According to blockchain tracking service Lookonchain, the investor moved 150,000 ETH, valued at $645 million, to a new wallet for staking. This marks the first major activity from this wallet since 2017. The remaining 850,000 ETH is still split between two wallets.
Large Purchases from Notable Thinkers
Alongside the activity from the ICO whale, recent data shows other large buyers continue to accumulate ETH. In the past two days, institutions and retail whales purchased around 218,750 ETH worth $942.8 million.
Among the large buyers was Bitmine, connected to Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, which acquired 69,603 ETH valued at $300 million through BitGo and Galaxy Digital. Five other newly created wallets also bought 102,455 ETH worth about $441.6 million using FalconX.
Ethereum Price Growth and Market Outlook
Ethereum's price has risen in recent days. At press time, it trades at $4,396.82, recording a 0.24% increase in 24 hours. The price also rose 3.55% within two days, moving above $4,420.
Earlier in 2025, Ethereum reached a new all-time high of $4,946.05 after four years without setting a record. Standard Chartered recently projected ETH could reach $8,000 by 2026, with long-term estimates of $26,000 to $35,000.
Recent events in the Ethereum market highlight the activity of both large investors and individual participants. Depending on the further behavior of market whales and the growing interest from institutional and retail investors, asset values may continue to rise.
