A whale awakened after a seven-year slumber: selling 27,585 ETH brought in $44.84 million.
A major Ethereum holder, whose wallet had remained inactive for seven years, unexpectedly became active and liquidated a significant portion of their assets. The address 0x0965 sold 27,585 ETH worth $44.84 million over two days. The average closing price for the position was $1,625 per coin.
This case is notable not only for the scale of the transaction but also for the wallet's history. The acquisition of assets likely occurred back in 2017–2018, when Ethereum was trading at significantly lower levels. On-chain data analysis shows that the owner's profit from this sale exceeded $39 million. However, it is worth noting that at the cycle peak, when ETH reached levels above $4,800, the unrealized profit on this portfolio was over $130 million. Thus, the whale missed the opportunity to lock in maximum profit, which is a classic example of the "HODL strategy" that is not always optimal.
Analysis of Market Impact
Such large sales from "dormant" addresses are often interpreted by the market as a bearish signal. However, in this case, the volume of 27,585 ETH constitutes less than 0.01% of the total circulating supply of ETH (approximately 120.5 million coins). Therefore, the direct pressure on the price was minimal. Rather, it is a psychological factor: investors, seeing an old holder taking profits, may begin to doubt further growth.
In my view, this episode rather confirms the market's maturity: even after years of holding, there are players ready to exit into liquidity, which is a normal process of capital redistribution. The key question for the market is not a single whale sale, but the overall trend: if it is followed by a wave of similar actions from other old addresses, it could create local pressure. For now, this is an isolated incident that does not change the fundamental picture.