An early Ethereum investor, who participated in the 2014 initial coin offering (ICO), has reactivated after eight years of dormancy to stake 150,000 ETH, valued at approximately $646 million. The investor originally received 1 million ETH during the ICO for an outlay of $310,000, effectively buying ether at $0.31 per token, and the total position is now worth nearly $4.3 billion.
On-chain data from Lookonchain revealed that the funds were moved from three wallets tied to the ICO into a staking address on September 4, 2025. These wallets had been inactive since February 2022, when they last processed non-ETH transactions. After this staking move, the investor still holds 105,000 ETH, worth about $451 million, across two wallets.
This event is part of a broader trend of ICO whales resurfacing; last month, another participant transferred $19 million in ETH to Kraken. However, in this case, the funds were staked rather than sold, which traders often view as a reduction in circulating supply and a bullish signal. Ethereum's staking layer has grown past 33 million ETH this year, with older investors increasingly participating due to stabilized yields and the maturity of the proof-of-stake model.
Additionally, other whales and institutions have been accumulating ETH aggressively. Over the past two days, retail whales and financial institutions bought 218,750 ETH, worth $942.8 million, including Bitmine (linked to Fundstrat's Tom Lee) acquiring 69,603 ETH for $300 million, and five newly created wallets purchasing 102,455 ETH via FalconX.
