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Dormant Ethereum ICO Wallet Moves 50 ETH After 11 Years

According to Arkham, an early Ethereum presale wallet that bought 400 ETH for about $120 in 2015 reactivated in May 2026, sending funds to a new address and to Bitstamp amid ETH market consolidation.

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Fact Check
The claim is strongly supported by multiple independent on-chain analytics sources. @OnchainLens, @whale_alert, and @lookonchain all independently confirmed the same on-chain event: a dormant Ethereum ICO wallet (0xeD41) moved 790 ETH (~$1.78-1.79M) after 10.8 years of dormancy, with an original investment of $244-$246. The claim's title references '50 ETH' which corresponds to a separate but related event reported by @The_NewsCrypto — a different ICO wallet that moved 50 ETH out of 400 ETH originally purchased for $124. The claim accurately aggregates both events, citing original costs of '$124 to $246' and dormancy of '10.8 to 11 years.' Etherscan links in the source posts provide on-chain verification. The minor discrepancy in the title (50 ETH vs. the more widely reported 790 ETH event) reflects that the claim covers multiple wallet reactivations, not just one. All core facts are verified.
Summary

A long-dormant Ethereum presale wallet reactivated on May 14, 2026, moving 400 ETH originally bought for about $120 in 2015, according to Arkham. The wallet sent 50 ETH to a new address and transferred 350 ETH to Bitstamp, a move Arkham said is consistent with a partial or full liquidation. Arkham estimated the holdings were worth roughly $900,000 at current prices, implying a return of more than 7,500x. The identified wallet address, 0xE0F372347c96B55f7D4306034bEb83266FD90966, is publicly viewable on Arkham, which said its history confirms presale-era ETH holdings and the recent outbound transfers. The report also placed the transaction against a broader market backdrop in which Ethereum was trading around $2,336 and consolidating below its August 2025 all-time high of $4,946.

Terms & Concepts
  • Ethereum presale: Ethereum’s early token sale in 2015, when participants bought ETH before the network’s full launch.
  • Bitstamp: A long-established regulated cryptocurrency exchange where users can deposit digital assets for trading or potential sale.
  • Dormant wallet: A blockchain address that has remained inactive for a long period before resuming transactions.