A long-dormant Bitcoin wallet reawakened to inject fresh volatility into the Ethereum market. On-chain trackers spotted the whale depositing 10 million USDC into HyperLiquid roughly 6 hours before opening a 5x-leveraged long position on 15,000 ETH, worth $44.15 million.
The reappearance of this early-era wallet after nearly ten years has amplified speculation that sophisticated capital could flow into Ethereum in the coming months.
The whale activity arrives as BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) continues an aggressive buying streak that has reshaped Ethereum’s corporate ownership.
BMNR is already the largest corporate ETH treasury, and has accumulated 69,822 ETH despite recent price dips, then added another 14,618 ETH days later. These purchases, totaling roughly $200M + $42M, push its holdings toward 3% of the entire ETH supply.
Analysts note that heavy treasury inflows often cushion selloffs and signal institutional confidence on dips, though they also concentrate market power in a few hands.
BitMine’s long-term strategy is even more significant
The firm has outlined a multi-year accumulation target, the so-called “Alchemy of 5%” goal, and a 6 million ETH vision, paired with plans to launch treasury staking infrastructure in 2026.
Meanwhile, Ethereum’s broader outlook is mixed. On one hand, the Fusaka upgrade arriving December 3 is set to expand blob capacity from 6 to 14, paving the way for lower L2 fees and scaling toward 12,000+ TPS by 2026. BitMine’s recent purchase of 96,798 ETH was reportedly timed to coincide with this catalyst.
On the other hand, rising staking centralization, seen in the 54% of staked ETH now in liquid staking protocols, threatens decentralization, especially if proposed issuance adjustments compress solo validator profitability.
For December, Ethereum’s trajectory hinges on three factors: Fusaka’s smooth rollout, ETF inflow momentum, and whether heavy institutional accumulation can counter retail panic selling around the key $2,700 support level.
With whales returning and corporate treasuries expanding, liquidity may strengthen, but any breakdown in support risks accelerating liquidations toward $2,400.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/old-ethereum-whale-moves-1-19-billion-after-a-decade-heres-why-its-a-big-deal/
