From $263 to $2.82M—Ethereum ICO Whale Reawakens with 10,684x Returns

An early Ethereum investor has reemerged after years of inactivity, stunning the crypto community by turning a $263 ETH ICO-era purchase into over $2.82 million, a 10,684x return that highlights just how far Ethereum has come.

Dormant Ethereum ICO Wallet Suddenly Becomes Active After 10 Years

Blockchain tracker Lookonchain reported the development, noting that an ETH ICO wallet has generated a 10,648x profit after more than 10 years of dormancy. 

The on-chain sleuth revealed this information in a recent X post highlighting that the wallet participated in Ethereum’s ICO. The wallet invested $263.5 in the ICO and received 850 ETH tokens, which were valued at $2.82 million, according to Lookonchain. 

Meanwhile, after remaining inactive for over a decade, the address became active and made its first transaction since July 2015. It first transferred 1 ETH to Coinbase and subsequently moved over 130 ETH to the exchange, in batches. Furthermore, the address has shifted some of the funds to other blockchain addresses and now holds 653 ETH. 

A Decade of Holding Through Extreme Volatility

Meanwhile, the ETH ICO wallet inactivity underscores the extraordinary patience required to realize long-term crypto gains. Since Ethereum’s early days, the asset has endured multiple brutal downturns, including the 2018 bear market and the 2022 crypto winter, each wiping out a significant chunk of ETH’s value at various points.

Despite these crashes, Ethereum continued to grow, evolving into the world’s largest blockchain network for smart contracts. Today, it underpins decentralized finance protocols, NFT marketplaces, and an expanding ecosystem of tokenized real-world assets. Holding on through these cycles demands unwavering conviction in the network’s long-term potential.

What This Means for Ethereum and Investors Today

While the reactivated wallet has sparked renewed interest, analysts emphasize that isolated whale movements do not change Ethereum’s broader market fundamentals. However, such events do shed light on how early adoption and belief in emerging technologies can result in outsized returns.

Interestingly, many analysts and market experts are confident that Ethereum will soon surge past its all-time high and hit above the $5,000 mark. Some, like crypto influencer and lawyer John Deaton, even call for a bolder move to $10,000 for Ether, pinning his prediction on increased accumulation by Treasury companies and institutional adoption.