Ether Founder-linked wallet wakes up, moves $121M in ETH

Joseph Lubin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, disposed of an Ethereum wallet holding 80,001 ETH valued at around $121.6 million in value. The move was made after more than three years of no activity on the wallet.

Lookonchain data revealed that the wallet with address 0x1b3Cb81E51011b549d78bf720b0d924Ac763A7C2 held a total balance of 243,300 ETH valued at around $370 million after executing the sale on June 6. However, the wallet retaining 75% of the balance of the wallet indicates that it was only part of a partial repositioning strategy rather than a complete exit.

Such a large volume transaction on the free market would be considered a significant level of selling pressure especially considering how fragile Ether is at the moment.

Dormant ETH wallets stir debate

Ether price is down by almost 24% over the last 7 days. ETH is trading at a price of $1,539 at press time. Its 24-hour trading volume spiked by 35% to hit $35.3 billion. The second biggest crypto price is down by 68% from its all-time high.

The coin had lost  47% YTD. Technical analysts are spotting a bearish pennant formation which might see ETH head towards the $800 to $900 levels if certain support levels are broken. Confirmation of liquidation by the wallet of one of the founders of Ethereum may add fuel to the bearish pressure and spread to related cryptocurrencies.

It is typical for large-scale transfers to exchanges to cause fear of selling pressure. However, large wallet transfers cannot be viewed as proof of intentions to sell coins. The destination of the 80,001 ETH has not been disclosed yet.

This recent Lubin-linked transaction followed other notable dormant-wallet reactivations reported in recent months. In January, a nine-year dormant Ethereum whale moved 50,000 ETH worth $145 million to the Gemini exchange while maintaining 85,000 ETH. However, there have been dormant wallets with very different reactions upon waking up. 

Earlier this year, Lookonchain revealed that other dormant wallets – some of which had been dormant between one and four years – were seen to collect almost 18,000 ETH during the downtrend and not sell it. Meanwhile, another dormant wallet – which was dormant for three years – collected 10,000 ETH and immediately sold it in exchange for $17.7 million of USDC. Such examples highlight the reason why dormancy alone is seen as insufficient to predict the market direction. It may not necessarily mean that a liquidation process is about to take place.

Lubin stays silent on ETH move

Nevertheless, there have been precedents in earlier occurrences of this phenomenon that have occurred among early holders of Ethereum. One of the examples where an old ICO Ethereum wallet had sent out 10,000 ETH worth of $22.88 million happened in April 2026, after 10 years of dormancy. There has been no news about any transaction made from it. Another report showed that an ICO wallet with 40,000 ETH had been awakened but was instead staked.

On June 5 (one day prior to the flagged transfer), Lubin, who is also a co-founder of Ethereum and CEO of blockchain software company Consensys, made a post on X about a token sale called STRATO, which he referred to as “a strong start,” without making any mention of his own ETH transfers.

Consensys is a company that provides blockchain infrastructure solutions like MetaMask, Infura, and Linea (a second-layer network). Lubin has been a prominent crypto personality ever since the launch of Ethereum in 2014, where he was working at Goldman Sachs and then went into blockchain full-time.

The transfer takes place when cryptocurrency volatility becomes more significant for the world economy. The exchange-traded products related to Ether are available in the United States, Canada, and some countries in Europe. It means that any changes in the price of ETH will affect investments in the securities, which are in regulated portfolios owned by pensions, wealth management companies, and private individuals.