Erik Voorhees, the prominent early Bitcoin investor and founder of the ShapeShift exchange, has re-entered the Ethereum market in a significant way after a hiatus of nearly a year. On-chain data reveals a series of substantial purchases, indicating a strategic shift in his portfolio allocation.
According to detailed tracking, Voorhees sold 12,886 ETH roughly a year ago at an average price of $3,324, netting approximately $42.83 million. His recent activity, however, marks a clear reversal. Over a five-day period, he spent 17.75 million USDT to acquire 8,576 ETH at an average price of $2,069. Data from blockchain analytics platforms Lookonchain and Arkham Intelligence further details an even larger, coordinated buy. On a single Sunday, Voorhees utilized two wallets to spend 49.08 million USDT purchasing approximately 23,393 ETH.
Following these initial transactions, one of the wallets continued to convert USDT to ETH, bringing the total holdings across the two addresses to 24,968 ETH, valued at approximately $56.5 million at the time of the report. One wallet still holds around 4.44 million USDT and $8.64 million in Aave-based ETH, suggesting potential for further accumulation.
Beyond Ethereum, Voorhees has also made aggressive moves into tokenized gold. Through 28 new wallets created since January 31st, he invested a total of $23.76 million into assets like XAUT and PAXG, purchasing 2,834 XAUT (~$13.78M) and 2,019 PAXG (~$9.97M) at an average price of around $4,896 per coin, already showing an estimated paper profit of approximately $513,000.
Analysts highlight that the return of a high-profile, long-term investor like Voorhees, alongside similar large purchases by other figures such as Intuition Protocol CEO Billy Luedtke (who bought ~7,769 ETH), could signal sustained institutional and "whale" confidence in Ethereum's long-term prospects. At the time of reporting, Ethereum's price was trading around $2,265, reflecting a gain of over 7% in 24 hours.
