A dormant Ethereum whale has moved its entire 135,284 ETH position to Gemini, putting roughly $397 million back on traders’ radar. Blockchain data shows wallet 0xb5a…168d6 sent 85,283 ETH in two latest transfers worth about $250.5 million at current prices, after sending another 50,000 ETH earlier in the week.
The deposits account for the wallet’s full ether holdings. After the transfers, the address was left with only about $70 in altcoins, pointing to a complete exit from its long-held ETH position. The wallet had shown no notable outbound activity since 2017, which made the move stand out quickly across on-chain tracking platforms and trading desks.
Early accumulation turned into a massive paper gain
According to Arkham Intelligence, the ETH was accumulated years ago through Bitfinex purchases near $90 per coin. Based on the figures cited in the report, that leaves an estimated profit of around $385 million. The scale of the transfers, and the fact that the entire balance was sent to an exchange, suggests something more deliberate than routine wallet reshuffling. No public statement has been made to explain what the owner plans to do next.
Old whale wallets are drawing attention again
The move also fits a broader pattern of long-inactive crypto addresses returning to life. Last week, a Bitcoin wallet that had been dormant for 13 years moved 909 BTC, worth about $84 million. These reactivations matter because previously idle supply is suddenly visible again, and exchange inflows tend to draw closer monitoring from traders watching for possible selling pressure.
Market data cited in the report showed Ether trading near $2,937 after the Gemini deposits, up 2.45%, while Bitcoin rose 1.46% to $88,676 over the same period. Gemini has also seen several other high-value crypto deposits in recent sessions. That points to renewed activity from early holders, though exchange deposits do not automatically mean immediate sales.
The episode also highlighted how large some early Ethereum positions still are. A handful of long-term holders continue to control stakes worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and their on-chain movements can shift market attention quickly even without changing Ethereum’s underlying fundamentals.