An early Ethereum investor has made a dramatic return to the market by staking one of the largest ETH deposits in recent memory.
On Thursday evening, 150,000 ETH, valued at around $646 million, moved from three wallets tied to Ethereum’s 2014 initial coin offering (ICO) into a staking address. This move comes as the Ethereum price trades at $4,325.35, up 1.20% in the last 24 hours at the time of writing.
The wallets had been sitting idle since February 2022, only handling transactions that weren’t in ETH. The investor made a move which is not usual by buying 1 million ETH during the ICO for $310,000, which means they snagged each token for a mere $0.31.
An #Ethereum ICO participant who received 1,000,000 $ETH just woke up after 8 years of dormancy.
He moved 150,000 $ETH($645M) to a new wallet for staking.
He invested $310K in the ICO via 3 wallets and received 1,000,000 $ETH — now worth $4.3B.
After staking 150,000 $ETH, he… pic.twitter.com/B5CBTBJ2O5
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 5, 2025
That holding is now worth about $4.3 billion, according to Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain on X. Even after this massive staking deposit, two wallets still hold another 105,000 ETH worth $451 million.
Dormant Ethereum Supply Comes Alive
This latest staking action follows a trend of long-term Ethereum whales reentering the market. Last month, another early participant transferred $19 million worth of ETH to Kraken, while a separate whale moved 2,300 ETH to the same exchange.
However, unlike those transfers, this week’s activity adds to Ethereum’s staking layer instead of fueling sell pressure. Ethereum staking now exceeds 33 million ETH as older investors seek stable yields through the proof-of-stake model.
Market Trends Reflect Bullish Sentiment
According to data from Coinglass, Ethereum’s funding rates have mostly remained in the positive territory over the past few months. Funding rates being positive means that long-term traders are paying short-term traders, which is a bullish signal.
Ethereum OI-Weighted Funding Rate, source: Coinglass
According to the chart, Ethereum’s price surged from around $1,800 in early April to over $5,000 by mid-August. Since then, it has pulled back a bit, settling in the $3,000 to $3,200 range before bouncing back.
The rising funding rates have coincided with these price increases, suggesting a strong buying momentum. On the other hand, sharp declines in funding rates often indicate a cooling-off period when the market gets too hot.
Ethereum whale choosing to stake $646 million instead of selling is a sign of long-term confidence. Hence, this move supports Ethereum’s network security and alleviates concerns about sudden sell-offs.
Also Read: SharpLink to Stake $3.6B in Ethereum on Linea After Launch
