Ethereum Whale Capitulates After 3 Years, Losses Top $19 Million

An ethereum whale who bought in during 2022 and 2023 capitulated on August 8, selling at a loss now exceeding $19 million, the same day a separate fresh wallet received $87.28 million in bitcoin from Galaxy Digital.

That patience ran out this week because the wallet sold 7,323 ETH for roughly $13.96 million, an average exit price far below its cost basis. It’s the kind of capitulation that tends to show up near local price bottoms, when even long-term holders decide the wait is no longer worth it.

Selling 7,323 ETH for $13.96 million implies an exit price of roughly $1,906 per token, close to ether’s spot price of about $1,915 this week, a loss of nearly 30% against the whale’s $2,723 average cost basis (before accounting for whatever staking rewards accrued over the multi-year hold).

In all, trackers put the wallet’s total realized losses at more than $19 million once earlier partial sales are included alongside this week’s exit, meaning the rewards weren’t nearly enough to offset the drawdown in ether’s price since early 2022.

Galaxy Digital has been an unusually active intermediary in bitcoin’s whale-to-whale market this year, repeatedly showing up on both sides of large transfers, i.e. taking in coins from long-dormant addresses in one transaction, then redistributing bitcoin to fresh wallets and exchange-linked addresses in others.

In July alone, the firm moved roughly 2,500 BTC to exchange-related wallets and separately shifted 900 BTC into a freshly created address, moves that onchain watchers read as treasury management or OTC staging rather than straightforward selling pressure.

Whether this latest 1,346 BTC transfer represents a client purchase, an internal custody shuffle, or the early stage of a larger distribution won’t be clear until the receiving wallet’s next move shows up onchain. Interesting few days ahead, to say the least!