Ethereum Whale Account Transacts 100,000 ETH Coins Amid Price Dip

Ethereum, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, has fallen sharply in price over the last few days. Amid the dip, an ETH whale has transferred a significant amount to an unknown wallet. The value of the transaction — 100,000 ETH coins, around $181 million (roughly Rs. 13,500 crores) — was highlighted by Whale Alert, a blockchain tracker and analytics company. Hours after the transaction, Ethereum has been showing an upward trend, gaining more than 6 percent in just 24 hours. Given the positive market trend, the person who bought the digital coins stands to benefit hugely from the transaction.

In the world of finance, a “whale” is an entity with enough power to impact the market of an asset by triggering massive transactions. However, the main issue with whale accounts is that they often accumulate billions worth of digital coins, allowing them the capability to influence the cryptocurrency market single-handedly.

According to data published by Whale Alert, the transaction took place around 9:30 PM (IST) on Monday. At that time, Ethereum price was around Rs 1.36 lakh. However, in the past 24 hours, the crypto coin has gained more than 6 percent in value, showed Coinbase data.

Even on its official Twitter handle, Whale Alert mentioned about the transaction. “100,000 #ETH (181,944,560 USD) transferred from #Gemini to unknown wallet,” read the tweet.

In a similar large transaction earlier in June, a cryptocurrency whale had transferred 50,000 ETH coins “from unknown wallet to unknown wallet”, Whale Alert had reported.

Ethereum, the Bitcoin rival, has an estimated market capitalisation of Rs 16.2 trillion, according to Coinbase. The recent fall in its price has been partly attributed to one of its co-founders quitting the cryptocurrency industry.

Anthony Di Iorio, who helped build Ethereum in 2018, said he was quitting the cryptocurrency ecosystem because he wants to solve “large problems”. The 48-year-old told Coindesk that he doesn't want to be known “as a crypto person”, but instead wants to be known as a “problem solver”.

Di Iorio said he plans to sell his stake in Decentral, a blockchain startup, and move to "larger world problems". He's reportedly involved in Project Arrow, working on creating a zero-emission vehicle.