Two Dormant Ethereum Wallets Activate After 10 Years, Transfer $2.9M in ETH

Highlights:

• Two old Ethereum wallets moved $2.9 million after almost 10 years.
• Ethereum’s price has jumped by over 89,800% since these wallets were last active.
• More inactive wallets are waking up, with some holders selling millions in ETH.

Two long-inactive Ethereum wallets became active on Monday after almost 10 years. They transferred a total of 1,140 ETH, valued at roughly $2.9 million. The two addresses, known as “0x27” and “0x7f,” had not seen any activity for exactly 3,630 days—since Ethereum’s launch on July 30, 2015. 

Dormant Wallets Reactivate as Ethereum Surges 89,880% in a Decade

Etherscan data shows these wallets got their ETH from GENESIS-tagged transactions, meaning they were part of Ethereum’s first token distribution to early users. One of the wallets got 900 ETH at a time when each token was priced below $0.50. Ethereum launched as a proof-of-work blockchain, using mining and block rewards like Bitcoin. In September 2022, Ethereum completed the Merge upgrade, shifting to a proof-of-stake system to reduce its energy usage. Over the nearly 10 years that these wallets stayed inactive, Ethereum’s value has increased by an incredible 89,880%, according to TradingView data.

These transfers are part of a growing trend where old, inactive wallets are suddenly becoming active again. Earlier this year, a number of dormant Bitcoin wallets moved large amounts of BTC, totaling in the billions. In April, an early Ethereum holder also made headlines by cashing out around $27.6 million worth of ETH.

At the time of writing, Ethereum’s price held steady despite the recent activity from the two old wallets. It is currently trading at $2,542. The ongoing development of the network has played a key role in supporting this price level. In May, Ethereum developers rolled out the Pectra upgrade, which introduced smart account features and improved scalability. After the upgrade, ETH rose from $1,812 to over $2,540 in the following weeks. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and researcher Toni Wahrstätter have put forward more upgrade ideas for the network. In their latest proposal, Wahrstätter suggested adding a gas limit of 16.77 million per transaction, saying it could boost the network’s performance and stability.

Companies Race to Build Ethereum Treasuries

Nasdaq-listed Bit Digital also increased its Ethereum holdings to 100,603 ETH. This marks a rise of over 300% from its 24,434 ETH balance at the end of Q1 2025. The company used funds from a $172 million public offering and the sale of 280 BTC to support this ETH strategy.

Earlier, Bit Digital focused on building its Bitcoin holdings but shifted to an ETH-native treasury in June. At that time, CEO Sam Tabar said they were starting with over 100,000 ETH and planned to grow quickly to become the world’s leading ETH-holding company.

THIS COMPANY SOLD ALL OF THEIR BTC AND BOUGHT $200M OF ETH

Bit Digital just acquired $192.9M ETH after raising ~$172M from a public offering, and selling their entire holdings of BTC, worth ~$28M.

Bit Digital now holds a total of $254.8 Million of ETH. pic.twitter.com/nV3P9vhZU8

— Arkham (@arkham) July 7, 2025

Moreover, BitMine Immersion Technologies plans to raise $250 million to build an Ethereum treasury. The company earlier raised $18 million through share sales to purchase Bitcoin, but is now turning its attention to Ethereum. In June, SharpLink Gaming gained attention after becoming the largest publicly traded company holding Ethereum.