Key Insights:
- In the latest Ethereum news, an early investor’s wallet moved its entire 135,284 ETH balance to Gemini.
- The ETH was originally accumulated near $90 per coin in 2017, generating an estimated $385 million profit for the whale.
- The move highlights a broader trend of long-inactive whale wallets resurfacing, attracting market attention and potentially affecting trading volumes without altering Ethereum’s core fundamentals.
Ethereum news: An Ethereum whale that accumulated ETH at roughly $90 in 2017 has now moved the last tranche of ETH to Gemini.
On Jan. 27, 2026, on-chain analyst EmberCN reported on X that a wallet dormant for nine years “completed” its exit by transferring the remaining 85,000 ETH, valued at about $248 million, into the Gemini exchange.
In the same post, EmberCN described a nine-year, one-buy/one-sell cycle with $381 million of profit, or about a 32x return.
Ethereum News: ETH Whale Flow Hits Gemini
The signal in this update is concrete. It is a visible on-chain transfer into a centralized exchange. That is why Ethereum news desks track when an Ethereum whale deposits coins into a venue like Gemini.
The deposit does not prove a sale. However, it does make a sale operationally possible in a way that cold storage does not.
EmberCN’s Jan. 27 post also quoted an earlier update from Jan. 26, 2026 (02:14 UTC). In that prior post, EmberCN wrote that the same address had “woken up” after nine years and transferred 50,000 ETH.
The transfer was valued at $145 million to Gemini in the prior 12 hours, while the investor is still holding 85,000 ETH valued at $244 million at that time.
EmberCN also shared an address link for 0xb5Ab08D153218C1A6a5318B14eeb92DF0Fb168D6 through an intel.arkm.com explorer URL.
Taken together, the two posts describe the Ethereum whale sending a full 135,000 ETH into Gemini across two legs: first 50,000, then the remaining 85,000.
Using the dollar figures in the posts, that is roughly $393 million of value routed into the exchange ($145 million + $248 million).
For Ethereum news readers, the anchor is the cost basis. EmberCN wrote that in 2017, the wallet withdrew and accumulated 135,000 ETH “through Bitfinex” at around $90 per coin, valuing the position at $12.17 million at the time.
EmberCN then framed the outcome as a $381 million profit. Add that figure to the stated cost basis, and the implied exit value is about $393 million, a number that lines up with the two transfer valuations EmberCN reported.
The point is not precision to the last dollar. There is internal consistency across the disclosed numbers.
What This Says About Market Mechanics?
This episode is a reminder that the most useful Ethereum news is about flows. A large holder can sit on Ethereum for years without interacting with the active float.
The coins exist, but they do not participate in daily price formation. Once that same Ethereum whale moves funds into Gemini, the coins shift from passive custody to tradable infrastructure.
That change is mechanical. It is also why exchange inflows routinely show up in Ethereum news coverage: they bridge on-chain transparency and off-chain execution.
There is also a timing lesson. EmberCN’s narration shows a two-step sequence—50,000 first, then 85,000—rather than a drip sale or a fragmented routing strategy.
That structure matters. It concentrates attention. It also concentrates the transfer footprint into a short window of public updates.
A dormant Ethereum whale accumulated 135,000 ETH in 2017 at roughly $90. Nine years later, moved the entire position into Gemini and, by EmberCN’s stated math, locked in a $381 million gain.
Those figures are large, and the address trail is specific enough for readers to verify.