An Ethereum (ETH) whale wallet transferred 1,45,000 ETH on 14 August 2022. The total value of the transferred ETH exceeds $280 million. The development is significant especially because we are only a month away from the much anticipated Merge, Ethereum’s official transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
The whale address had obtained most of the ETH by taking part in the Genesis Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2014. On Sunday, the sum was transferred to multiple wallets, and the transfers were made in batches of 5,000 ETH per transaction. A few transfers did exceed 10,000 ETH. The wallet address currently holds only 0.107 ETH.
This was only the second time the whale wallet was used after the ICO. The one transaction that had taken place before this was three years ago, in July 2019, when the user had sent 5,000 ETH to the Bitfinex3 exchange.
ETH community concerns over the transfer of 145,000 ETH
Given the soon-approaching Merge, the ETH community is more vigilant than ever before, and the recent movement of such a large amount of ETH transfers caused quite a stir.
Some claim it was an attempt to instigate a mass dump before the Merge. However, it is important to note that most transactions went to unknown wallets rather than an exchange. Even if the whale decides to sell their 1,45,000 ETH, a $250 million selling pressure isn’t considered significant enough to cause a market dump.
Others believe that the whale is attempting to stake their ETH to become a validator on the PoS network and generate passive income.
All of this is only speculation though, and only time can reveal the intention behind the transfers.
FAQs
How long does an Ethereum transfer take?
The duration of an Ethereum (ETH) transfer can vary depending on network congestion and transaction fees. On average, Ethereum transactions take approximately 15 seconds to confirm. However, during periods of high demand, the network might experience congestion, leading to longer confirmation times.
To expedite your Ethereum transfer, you can adjust the transaction fee (gas fee) to incentivize miners to prioritize your transaction. Higher fees generally result in quicker confirmations.
Why is my ETH transfer taking so long?
1. Network Congestion: During periods of high demand, the Ethereum network can become congested, leading to slower transaction processing times.
2. Gas Fees: If you set a lower gas fee for your transaction, miners may prioritize transactions with higher fees, causing delays in the confirmation of your transfer.
3. Pending Transactions: If there are any pending transactions in the network, your transfer may need to wait its turn for confirmation.
What is the longest an Ethereum transaction can take?
1. Network Congestion: During periods of high demand or network congestion, transactions can be delayed.
2. Low Gas Fees: If a user sets a low gas fee for their transaction, miners may prioritize transactions with higher fees, leading to delayed confirmations.
3. Smart Contract Complexity: Transactions involving complex smart contracts or interactions with decentralized applications (DApps) may take more time to process.
Do Ethereum transactions expire?
1. Nonce: Ethereum transactions are assigned a nonce, a sequential number representing the order of transactions from a specific address. If a new transaction is initiated with a higher nonce before a previous transaction is confirmed, the earlier one may be replaced or canceled.
2. Pending Status: If a transaction remains unconfirmed and stays in the meme pool for an extended period, it might be considered pending. In such cases, users can choose to replace the transaction with a higher gas fee to expedite confirmation.
