ETHHere’s why weeks before the Merge, an Ethereum ICO-era whale address transferred 145,000 ETH

After three years of dormancy, an Ethereum whale wallet that participated in the genesis initial coin offering (ICO) and obtained approximately 150,000 Ether (ETH) in 2014 was reactivated on Aug. 14.

As the price of Ether surged to a new three-month high of over $2,000, the whale address transferred 145,000 ETH to multiple wallets. The transfers were made in 5,000 ETH batches, with a few transfers exceeding 10,000 ETH. The total value of the transferred Ether exceeds $280 million, with the wallet address currently holding 0.107 ETH. The 145,000 ETH transfer was only the whale wallet's second activation since the ICO, the first being in July 2019 when it sent 5,000 ETH to the exchange Bitfinex while Ether was trading at $219, with the transaction valued at slightly more than a million dollars.

The movement of such a large amount of ETH piqued the interest of the community, with many claiming it could be dumped before the Merge, the official transition of the current proof-of-work-based blockchain to a proof-of-stake-based blockchain. It is important to note, however, that the majority of transactions are to unknown wallets rather than an exchange. Even if the whale decides to sell their 145,000 ETH, a $250 million selling pressure isn't considered significant enough to cause a market dump. Others believe the whale is attempting to stake their ETH in order to become a validator on the PoS network and generate passive income.

Following the successful merge of the Goerli testnet to the Beacon Chain (the PoS chain activated in 2020), the final rehearsal before the official transition, Ethereum's transition to a proof-of-stake network is scheduled for September 15. The Merge is widely regarded as one of the most significant enhancements since Ethereum's inception in 2015. After several delays and testnet integrations, Ethereum is set to officially transition to PoS in the third week of September, after a three-phase transition process that began in 2020.