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An early Ether (ETH) investor that has been dormant for over eight years, has awakened and made one of the largest staking deposits in recent history.
According to on-chain data spotlighted by <a href="https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1963770197871046708" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Lookonchain</a>, three addresses that snapped up 1 million Ether tokens during the initial coin offering (ICO) in 2015 transferred a combined amount of $645 million worth of funds on Thursday to a staking address.
The anonymous whale initially purchased the coins for $310,000 at $0.31 per coin. That stash is now valued around $4.3 billion. Prior to Thursday’s action, the three wallets had been inactive since February 2022, when they conducted non-ETH transactions.
After this week’s staking, two wallets still hold another 105,000 ETH, valued at $451 million.
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 An <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ethereum?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#Ethereum</a> ICO participant who received 1,000,000 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ETH&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$ETH</a> just woke up after 8 years of dormancy. He moved 150,000 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ETH&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$ETH</a>($645M) to a new wallet for staking. He invested $310K in the ICO via 3 wallets and received 1,000,000 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ETH&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$ETH</a> — now worth $4.3B. After staking 150,000 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ETH&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$ETH</a>, he… <a href="https://t.co/B5CBTBJ2O5" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/B5CBTBJ2O5</a>— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) <a href="https://twitter.com/lookonchain/status/1963770197871046708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">September 5, 2025</a>
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It’s the latest in a slew of reactivating ICO whale addresses. In August, one ICO whale moved $19 million worth of ETH to the Kraken crypto exchange, before selling another 1,060 ETH days later. Another ICO participant also sold 2,300 ETH last month.
Ether <a href="https://zycrypto.com/powerful-veteran-trader-says-after-ether-rips-to-fresh-all-time-high-amid-likely-september-rate-cut/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">registered a new all-time high </a>of $4,946.05 late last month and is up an impressive 70% over the last three months. The second-largest cryptocurrency was now changing hands at $4,329 as of publication time.
Investor optimism regarding Ether has surged in recent months following the passage of landmark crypto regulation that could benefit the network, and amid rapidly increasing institutional demand for the asset that has sparked huge inflows into spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eth-accumulation-heats-up">ETH Accumulation Heats Up</h2>
Meanwhile, retail whales and financial institutions have continued to aggressively amass Ethereum. They have purchased 218,750 ETH, worth $942.8 million, over the last two days alone, as <a href="https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1963777271640232361" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">spotted </a>by Lookonchain.
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 Whales and institutions bought a massive 218,750 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ETH&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$ETH</a>($942.8M) in the past 2 days. Bitmine bought 69,603 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ETH&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$ETH</a>($300M) from BitGo and Galaxy Digital. 5 newly created wallets bought 102,455 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24ETH&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$ETH</a>($441.6M) from FalconX. <a href="https://t.co/ajkL0O3roc" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/ajkL0O3roc</a>— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) <a href="https://twitter.com/lookonchain/status/1963777271640232361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">September 5, 2025</a>
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Peter Thiel-backed <a href="https://zycrypto.com/bitmine-nears-2-million-ether-holdings-after-latest-purchase-now-owns-about-1-6-of-total-eth-supply/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitmine Immersion Tech</a>, which has become the largest corporate holder of Ether, scooped up 69,603 ETH for approximately $300 million through BitGo and Galaxy Digital’s over-the-counter trades. Bitmine currently holds more than 1.75 million ETH, worth over $7.6 billion. Runner-up Ether treasury firm SharpLink Gaming <a href="https://x.com/SharpLinkGaming/status/1962848502666691043" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">announced </a>earlier this week that it purchased 39,008 ETH, pushing its total stockpile to 837,230 ETH.
Additionally, five wallets that were recently created purchased 102,455 ETH, equivalent to $442 million, through FalconX.

Ethereum ICO-Era Whale Suddenly Springs To Life After 8-Year Hibernation, Stakes $645 Million ETH

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