ETH Whale Moves Tokens Worth $30M, Making Over 800% Return

Crypto whales are known to hold assets for long periods before transferring them for profits during market peaks. These transactions usually spark community participation and debates on the right time to sell and the impacts of such sales.

A crypto whale has made a huge move, cashing out over $30 million in profits after holding the assets for over eight years.

According to data from crypto analytics firm Lookonchain, the whale sold 11,005 ETH at an average price of $2,777 per coin on November 8th. This brought the total proceeds from the sale to a staggering $30.5 million, marking a return of over 800%. The whale had initially purchased the ETH on the ShapeShift exchange back in 2015 for a total of around $38,000, paying roughly $3.46 per coin at the time.

The whale's decision to sell a portion of their ETH holdings, after holding them for such a long period, sparked diverse reactions within the crypto community. Some lauded the whale's investments, highlighting the astronomical profits generated from buying and holding the assets for several years. Others, however, pointed out that the whale could have potentially reaped even greater rewards by continuing to hold the ETH, especially considering the recent bull market peak, where ETH traded above $4,700, which would have netted them over $50 million had they sold then.

After the 2021 bull cycle, crypto assets sharply declined to new lows before seeing slight gains following institutional anticipation of Bitcoin ETFs. However, approval of the ETFs had a greater impact on Bitcoin's price compared to ETH's, leading to lower inflows. Whales also planned to offload some assets post-approval to mark gains.

Whale activity in the crypto market has soared over the last 30 days. The ‘Uptober' rally saw Bitcoin record inflows, which trickled down to altcoins and meme tokens. This bullish momentum pushed Bitcoin past its previous all-time high set after the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

A surge in whale activity tends to signal similar movements from retail investors due to the vast size of their holdings. After the ‘Uptober' rally, the outcome of the United States election has been the recent catalyst for crypto assets. Bitcoin scaled a new height above $90,000, while altcoins surged to double-digit gains. Several meme coins also outperformed the market in the last seven days as funds flowed to risky assets. These factors have sparked whale activity across several sectors of the ecosystem.