Ethereum OG Moves $2.2 Million in ‘Genesis Coins’ After 10 Years HODLing

An investor holding $2.2 million in Ethereum started moving the coins on Monday after leaving them untouched for nearly 10 years, blockchain data shows.

The holder originally received the 900 ETH at the address in 2015 when the coin was priced at less than 50 cents.

Those were “genesis” coins, digital tokens created during the first block of Ethereum. Before transactions took place on Ethereum, early contributors and developers to the project received “pre-mined” ETH—when it was worth pennies. 

The latest move is one of several involving large amounts of crypto from long-time holders.

In April, a long-term Ethereum whale sold holdings worth about $27.6 million, possibly generating profits of more than 18,000%. Last week, a Bitcoin whale moved more than $8 billion in BTC after 14 years. 

ETH was recently trading for $2,529 per coin, down nearly 2% over the past 24 hours, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. Ethereum has risen nearly 2% over the past month but remains about 48% below its 2021 all-time high of $4,878. 

ETH is the second largest digital coin after Bitcoin, with a market cap of $306 billion. The cryptocurrency used to run on a proof-of-work network, but switched to a proof-of-stake one back in 2022. 

When it was proof of work, ETH coins were generated by miners—just like with Bitcoin—but the asset now uses the less energy intensive consensus mechanism where coins are generated by stakers. 

The holder is technically not a whale. An Ethereum whale holds at least 10,000 ETH—worth $25.3 million at current prices.