Early Ethereum investor completes exit, nets about $274 million

Beincrypto reports an early Ethereum investor appears to have completed a full exit from their ETH position after on-chain transfers to a centralized exchange, generating an estimated $274 million in profit.

Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain said the investor accumulated 154,076 ETH at an average price of $517 and began transferring holdings to Bitstamp. Lookonchain posted on January 10 that the wallet had deposited another 40,251 ETH ($124 million) over two days and still held 26,000 ETH ($80.15 million); several hours later the investor moved that final 26,000 ETH to the exchange. Lookonchain estimated the total profit at roughly $274 million, about a 344% gain. Arkham data showed earlier staged transfers, including 137 ETH about eight months ago, 17,000 ETH three months ago and 18,000 ETH roughly one month ago.

The exit comes amid broader signs of institutional caution: the Coinbase Premium Index for ETH remains deeply negative, a trend the report says has persisted into 2026 and indicates elevated selling pressure from US-based institutions. Some analysts remain optimistic, with Quinten François calling ETH "massively undervalued" relative to its economic activity and Milk Road highlighting growing on-chain settlement and fee generation; technical commentary cited patterns with targets above $4,400. Whether ETH’s price will align with those fundamentals remains to be seen.

Key Topics

Crypto, Ethereum, Bitstamp, Lookonchain, Arkham, Coinbase Premium