Dormant Whale Sells ETH After 8 Years, Market Reacts Fast!

• A dormant whale holding 16,636 ETH for 8 years recently sold a portion of its holdings, triggering market interest.
• The Ethereum price patterns from 2023 are re-emerging, with analysts predicting a substantial rally by the end of 2024.

A whale with 16,636 ETH and a profit of $38 million has risen from dormancy after eight years and begun selling Ethereum. The whale, whose wallet has the identifier “0x996,” made its first significant move since buying ETH in 2016, when the price was roughly $5.24.

Whale’s 2016 Ethereum Purchase Turns Into $38 Million Profit After 8 Years 

According to SpotOnChain, between January 19 and February 23, 2016, the whale withdrew 16,636 ETH from ShapeShift at an estimated cost of $87,136. Fast forward to today, and that quantity of ETH has risen to an estimated total profit of $38 million, representing a whopping 436x growth.

A diamond-hand whale with a $38M (x436) profit is selling $ETH after 8 years of dormancy!

Between Jan 19 and Feb 23, 2016, when the price was only ~$5.24, whale "0x996" withdrew 16,636 $ETH (est. cost: $87,136) from ShapeShift and held all tokens until today.

6 hours ago, the… pic.twitter.com/sxniRoaRYt

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) September 16, 2024

After hanging onto the Ethereum for years, the whale transferred all 16,636 ETH to a new wallet, “0xe3e,” just six hours ago. The whale then sold a portion of this Ether, swapping 437.79 WETH for around 1.024 million USDT, or nearly $2,341 per ETH. Following this sale, the whale’s current holdings total 16,199 WETH, valued at around $37.1 million.

This big movement of ETH after years of dormancy has piqued the interest of market analysts, especially given its timing in a market that has seen bearish momentum over the last month.

As of writing, ETH is trading at around $2,309.61, indicating a bullish movement in the last few hours. This price action comes after a challenging 30-day period in which the token faced bear pressure.

Simultaneously, the overall market opinion towards Ethereum has been cautiously bullish. Recent CNF reports indicate increased interest in Ethereum options, signaling bullish hopes for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Specifically, there has been a huge surge in options trading, with over 20,000 contracts traded for Ethereum at a strike price of $3,000, which will expire on December 27, 2024.

Furthermore, as we previously highlighted, a market analyst has analysed that Ethereum’s pricing patterns in 2023 are beginning to reflect existing tendencies in 2024. These analysts predict a significant rally for Ethereum by the end of this year.

One popular forecast anticipates a rise to $4,723.5, with a possible breakout above this level. If Ethereum breaks through this resistance, some believe it will pave the way for a target price of $8,100 or higher.