An Ethereum initial coin offering buyer who acquired 100,000 ETH at $0.31 each during the summer of 2014 transferred 1,000 ETH to Kraken on October 23, according to onchain data. The transfer, worth approximately $2.4 million at current prices, represents a gain of over 7,600x from the original $310 investment.
Blockscout records show the wallet first sent the coins to an intermediate address at 19:29 UTC, which forwarded all 1,000 ETH to a Kraken hot wallet three minutes later. The wallet still holds approximately 11,349 ETH, valued at roughly $27 million.
Transaction History Spanning Twelve Years
The coins trace back to the Ethereum crowdsale that ran from July 20 to September 2, 2014, when buyers could purchase ether at roughly $0.31 per coin. The crowdsale sold almost 60 million ETH for 31,529 BTC, or about $18 million. This buyer acquired approximately 0.17% of all ETH sold during the event.
The wallet's transaction history reveals a pattern of periodic activity over the past decade:
- 2016: The original genesis address moved more than 100,000 ETH in August, with approximately 120,657 ETH received in December
- Late 2017 to May 2018: Roughly 92,000 ETH sent out during the bull run and its aftermath
- June to December 2018: About 73,000 ETH flowed back in during the bear market
- 2020 to 2021: Approximately 81,000 ETH transferred during ether's climb to record highs
- 2023 to 2025: Smaller sales, mostly in batches of a few hundred to 2,500 ETH
- 2026: 106 ETH on September 30, followed by the 1,000 ETH transfer to Kraken on October 23
Part of Broader Early Holder Activity
The transfer comes twenty-four hours after another early Ethereum buyer cashed out 3,000 ETH purchased at $0.01883 nine years prior, generating approximately $7.23 million in proceeds. The recent sales activity among long-term holders coincides with ether trading near $2,377 and broader market pressure affecting the cryptocurrency sector.
