Ethereum ICO participant dumps 3,000 ETH for $7.6M cash out


A participant in the Ethereum initial coin offering (ICO) continues to sell thousands of Ether tokens after dumping $24 million in the cryptocurrency a few months ago.

An Ethereum ICO whale sold another 3,000 Ether (ETH) on Oct. 24, cashing out more than $7.6 million, according to a report by the blockchain analytics service Lookonchain.

The same address previously sold 7,000 ETH in July, triggering a subsequent 15% drop in ETH price, Lookonchain noted.

The transactions account for just about 4% of the whale’s total ETH received during the Ethereum ICO in 2015, or 254,908 ETH.

Source: Lookonchain

Ethereum was launched through an ICO in 2014

Unlike Bitcoin (BTC), which was launched without any ICO in 2009, Ethereum — the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value — was rolled out through a token sale.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin reportedly announced the Ethereum ICO for the Ether token in early 2014 at a North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami.

Transactions, ICO, Ether Price, Whale

Vitalik Buterin announcing Ethereum at Bitcoin Miami 2014. Source: YouTube

The Ethereum ICO sold about 60 million ETH to investors, raising approximately 31,000 Bitcoin, worth around $18 million at the time.

The ICO was selling ETH at the initial discounted price of 2,000 per BTC, or around $0.3, with the Ethereum Foundation emphasizing that the tokens were not securities.

The ICO spawned a number of Ethereum millionaires who have been holding large chunks of ETH through the years, with many cashing out amid the ETH price surge.

The whale still has 37,000 ETH to cash out

Out of a total of 254,908 ETH received during the Ethereum ICO in 2014, the whale still holds 37,070 ETH, worth roughly $94 million, according to Lookonchain.

Unlike the previous 7,000 ETH sale in July, the latest 3,000 ETH sale has not triggered a major decline in the ETH price.

Related: Buterin pitches solutions to Ethereum’s staking, block production issues

According to data from CoinGecko, Ether dropped around 2.4% over the past 24 hours at the time of writing, trading at $2,521.

Transactions, ICO, Ether Price, Whale

Ether (ETH) all-time price chart. Source: CoinGecko

While slightly down over the past 30 days, Ether is still up 38% over the past year, according to CoinGecko data.

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