A wallet that received over 61,000 Ether (ETH) in the initial coin offering (ICO) eight years ago transferred the entire amount to a wallet on Wednesday, blockchain data shows. The wallet is said to belong to crypto exchange Kraken, and is worth over $116 million at current prices – having been purchased for 31 cents a token during the ICO. Wallet 0x8b moved the tokens to another wallet, and then to the Kraken-tagged wallet, the data shows. The owner of the wallet is unknown as of Wednesday. The only previous movement was when the wallet received Ether from the genesis contract after Ethereum launched.
Such large movements from early participants are typically uncommon, and this movement could mean the holder is preparing to sell tokens, stake on an exchange, or diversify their holdings for other tokens. This is the latest in a line of old wallets moving tokens such as Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH) to exchanges this year. In April, at least four wallets moved millions worth of Bitcoin to exchanges or to other wallets. These investors, known as whales due to their large holdings, can influence the price or sentiment around a token.