A whale wallet that accumulated 32,000 ETH back in January 2021 has just dumped nearly 14,000 ETH worth over $21 million, according to blockchain data analytics firm Lookonchain.
The wallet received the ETH from cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex when the price of ETH was around $1,239 in late January 2021. This was right before the massive ETH bull run that saw the cryptocurrency reach an all-time high price of nearly $4,700 in November 2021.
Rather than selling during the peak of the bull market in 2021, this whale held onto their ETH bags for almost another 2 years. Now, with ETH trading around $1,577, the wallet has finally offloaded 13,871 ETH for 21.87 million USDC over the past two hours.
This raises the question – why did this whale wait so long to take profits after experiencing the 2021 bull market? One speculation is that they expected ETH prices to continue climbing in 2022 and held on too long. The crypto markets have been in a bear market in 2022 and 2023, so perhaps they got tired of waiting and decided now was the time to realize some gains.
Another theory is that this wallet is associated with a large fund or institution that needed to free up capital due to pressures elsewhere in the markets. The US stock market has been volatile this year and many macro factors like rising interest rates, recession fears, and geopolitical tensions may have forced their hand to sell.
Of course, without knowing the owner of the wallet, it’s impossible to say for certain. The timing is certainly interesting given ETH price is still well below all-time high in 2021. This will likely spark debate in the crypto community on whether now is the right time to take profits or continue holding ETH for future gains.
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