Ethereum whale has just acquired 124K ETH or $323M worth

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An Ethereum address, 0xCd9, has just acquired 124K ETH or $323M worth, from Galaxy Digital OTC services over the past week. The ETH tokens were then transferred to a new address, 0x0b2, where more than half of the stack was staked with the liquid staking project, Liquid Collective, to receive LsETH. The address now holds 71,671 LsETH or $202M worth, with the remaining 61,967 ETH held as it is.

Transactions of this magnitude are hallmarks of a "crypto whale"—an individual or entity holding a vast amount of a specific cryptocurrency. These major players often turn to Over-the-Counter (OTC) trading desks for their transactions. Unlike public exchanges, where a large order can cause significant price volatility and "slippage," OTC desks facilitate private, direct trades at a pre-negotiated price. This allows whales to accumulate or distribute large positions without immediately alerting the broader market or adversely affecting the asset's price.

The decision to stake a significant portion of the newly acquired ETH highlights a sophisticated investment strategy. Staking on Ethereum involves locking up ETH to help secure the network and validate transactions, earning yield in return. However, traditional staking renders the assets illiquid. Liquid staking protocols like Liquid Collective offer a solution by issuing a tokenized derivative—in this case, LsETH—that represents the staked ETH. This Liquid Staking Token (LST) continues to accrue staking rewards while remaining liquid, meaning it can be traded, sold, or used as collateral in other decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, thereby maximizing capital efficiency.

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There has been speculation on whether this purchase is related to SharpLink’s planned acquisition of $425M in ETH, especially with the address 0xCd9 initially being funded by Galaxy Digital and Galaxy Digital being one of the core investors in SharpLink. ConsenSys announced the closing of the $425M private placement into SharpLink earlier this week, with plans to make it the largest ETH treasury company globally. Other key investors in the deal include Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, ParaFi and more.

The potential connection to SharpLink's initiative is particularly noteworthy as it reflects a growing trend of corporate treasury management involving digital assets. Just as companies like MicroStrategy have made headlines for adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets as a hedge against inflation and a store of value, a move by SharpLink to become the largest corporate holder of ETH would signal strong institutional conviction in the long-term value and utility of the Ethereum network. Such large-scale corporate adoptions are often seen as a maturation point for the asset class.