Ethereum whales sell as 169,770 ETH exits exchanges

Ethereum’s early investors have reportedly sold another 4,000 ETH across two wallets as Santiment has recorded the network’s largest daily net exchange outflow in more than four months.

Summary

• 1,000 ETH reportedly sold came from an ICO participant who initially bought 100,000 tokens.
• 3,000 ETH worth $7.23 million moved from another early holder, according to Lookonchain.
• $18.79 million in AAVE and WLD reached exchanges from an institution inactive for over a year.
• 169,770 ETH left exchanges on a net basis, according to Santiment’s Oct. 23 analysis.

Lookonchain identified the transactions in separate posts on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24, including a 1,000 ETH transfer from an investor who acquired 100,000 tokens during Ethereum’s initial coin offering at $0.31 each. A second post described 3,000 ETH worth $7.23 million sold by a holder whose purchase dated back nine years.

Ethereum ICO holder moves 1% of original allocation

In its Oct. 24 post, Lookonchain described the ICO participant as another early investor selling ETH and showed a 1,000 ETH transfer to an address labeled as a Kraken deposit.

“Many Ethereum OGs are selling $ETH!” the tracker wrote.

Based on the purchase figures in that post, the original 100,000 ETH allocation cost $31,000. The 1,000 ETH transaction represents 1% of that initial allocation, with an original purchase cost of $310.

Neither calculation establishes how much ETH the investor still holds. Lookonchain’s post does not provide a complete accounting of earlier sales, transfers, or funds held at other addresses.

The tracker’s Oct. 23 post described a different holder who bought 3,000 ETH at $18.83 each nine years earlier. At the reported $7.23 million valuation, the tokens were worth approximately $2,410 apiece.

Using those rounded inputs, the original investment was $56,490, and the later valuation was approximately 128 times that amount. Lookonchain described the transaction as a sale, while its screenshot showed an outflow to an address labeled as a Kraken deposit.

An exchange deposit records tokens reaching an exchange-linked address. The images do not show the trade execution price, fees, or proceeds received by either holder.

Dormant institution deposits $18.79 million in AAVE and WLD

A separate Oct. 24 Lookonchain post identified an institution moving assets after more than a year of inactivity. The tracker put the transfers at 156,690 AAVE worth $22.86 million and 19.74 million WLD worth $10.04 million.

Of those amounts, 62,000 AAVE valued at $9.12 million and 19 million WLD valued at $9.67 million had reached exchanges, the post said.

After over a year of inactivity, an institution moved 156,690 $AAVE ($22.86M) and 19.74M $WLD ($10.04M) to sell.

So far, it has deposited 62,000 $AAVE ($9.12M) and 19M $WLD ($9.67M) into exchanges.https://t.co/C6jYW3xiK4 pic.twitter.com/So5bee595w

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 24, 2026

The two exchange deposits totaled $18.79 million using Lookonchain’s rounded dollar estimates. By token count, the deposited amounts represented approximately 39.6% of the AAVE moved, and 96.3% of the WLD moved.

Subtracting the reported deposits leaves 94,690 AAVE and 740,000 WLD from the respective transfer totals. Those differences describe the amounts not included in the post’s exchange-deposit figures, without establishing their current location or the institution’s remaining portfolio.

Lookonchain characterized the movements as preparations to sell. Its post did not name the institution or provide evidence of completed exchange trades.

For WLD, the latest transfers follow an earlier October recovery. TradingView’s Binance chart recorded the token at $0.5477 on Oct. 10, when it had rebounded above $0.51 after falling toward $0.46 late on Oct. 8. Those historical readings do not establish its price during the institution’s deposits.

Santiment identifies $2,400 as Ethereum’s immediate pivot

Santiment’s Oct. 23 analysis reported approximately 169,770 ETH leaving exchanges on a net basis, its largest daily outflow in over four months. The accompanying chart dated the movement to Oct. 22.

The analytics firm said fewer coins held on exchanges generally leave less supply immediately available for sellers. Its comparison focused on June 5, when approximately 223,800 ETH left exchanges on a net basis around a local price low.

Santiment cautioned that the historical comparison did not guarantee another bottom. It identified $2,400 as the immediate pivot, a sustained recovery above $2,500 as strengthening its bottoming case, and a loss of roughly $2,330 as weakening it.

U.S. fund investors had recently reduced exposure. As crypto.news previously reported, Ethereum ETFs recorded $320.1 million in withdrawals during Oct. 12–16, based on Farside Investors’ figures, compared with $228.4 million from Bitcoin funds.

BlackRock’s ETHA accounted for nearly $299 million of the Ethereum category’s weekly net withdrawals. Ethereum products received net inflows on only one of the five trading days.

Farside’s daily figures showed $85.4 million in withdrawals on Monday, followed by $24.8 million in net purchases on Tuesday. Wednesday brought $129.5 million in outflows, with another $60.3 million leaving on Thursday and $69.7 million on Friday.

ETHA’s withdrawals equaled approximately 93.4% of the category’s net weekly outflow. The comparison uses the net category total after other funds’ inflows and withdrawals offset one another, rather than the sum of every redemption.

Aave’s latest lending launch puts Sentora in charge of three markets

Away from the token transfers, Aave announced its first externally curated markets on V4 through Sentora on Oct. 22.

The three Ethereum markets support borrowing RLUSD, PYUSD, and OUSD against selected collateral. Sentora manages collateral settings, interest-rate curves, price oracles, and liquidation parameters, while Aave DAO retains ownership of the contracts.

Two yield markets accept USDe, PRIME, mWIN and PST as collateral for RLUSD or OUSD borrowing. The Bluechip market supports loans in RLUSD, PYUSD and OUSD against kBTC, a Bitcoin-backed asset.

Under the launch’s governance safeguards, changes that raise risk face a 48-hour timelock. New collateral assets must pass Aave governance review before listing.