Ethereum holder turns $38K into $30M after 8 years

Ether (ETH) has rallied more than 9% over the last 24 hours, reaching a 13-week high of $2,880 on Nov. 7.

As this happened, an Ethereum whale, who had held more than 11,000 ETH since 2016, has appeared to cash in on massive gains.

Whale bought 11,000 ETH at $3.46

In February 2016, Ether traded for between $2.1 and $6.6 per token. Back then, the address added 11,005 ETH on the crypto exchange ShapeShift, according to Lookonchain. The onchain smart money tracker said the tokens were acquired at $3.46 per token, putting the total cost at $38,000.

Lookonchain said that after holding the tokens for over eight years, the whale has decided to cash in on their profits. On Nov. 7, the trader moved the 11,005  ETH when the price was $2,777, putting the potential profit at $30.52 million, more than 800 times than the initial capital invested. 

Notably, the address would have walked away with more than $52.8 million had they sold their ETH holdings at the height of the 2021 bull run when Ether’s price hit an all-time high of $4,800.

Similarly, these holdings would have fetched the whale approximately $44 million if they had booked profits in May this year when ETH topped $4,000 earlier this year.

ETH balance on exchanges spikes

Selling by whales and institutions often coincides with increased exchange inflows. This time is not different, as ETH held on exchanges has jumped over the last seven days, rising from 18.8 ETH million on Oct. 31 to 19.2 million ETH on Nov. 7.  

The jump is particularly noticeable between Nov. 5 and Nov. 7, when Ether’s price rose above $2,800, indicating possible profit-taking on the latest rally. 

While this might appear bearish for Ether, a long-term look at the balance on exchanges paints a different picture.

The total number of ETH held in exchanges is down 7% in 2024 and is currently near 8-year lows as part of a larger trend that has seen Ethereum exchange reserves dropping since the 35.5 million peak reached in June 2020.

Is Ether price poised to break to $4,000?

But despite signs of profit-taking and the rise in exchange reserves, Trump victory-driven optimism and spot Ethereum ETF flows turning positive suggest Ether’s bullish breakout may be underway.

“The price of Ethereum looks poised to break above this rising wedge formation,” argues popular crypto analyst CryptoJack in a Nov. 7 post on X. 

He shared the chart below showing ETH price seeking to break out from a rising wedge chart pattern that has been in play since September. A decisive close above the wedge’s upper boundary would see the price breakout toward the $4,000 mark, says CryptoJack.

“Once it does, nothing is stopping $ETH from reaching $4k!”

A similar setup was observed by fellow analyst Moon Whales, who pointed out that ETH needed high volume to confirm a successful breakout “to further gains and potentially retest higher resistance levels.”

Meanwhile, the ETH futures 8-hour funding rate has spiked to 0.022%, the highest since May, as per CoinGlass data. This suggests that long positions are becoming increasingly at risk of liquidation in the event of a price pullback. 

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.