Ethereum co-founder moves $72 million in ETH to Kraken

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Jeffrey Wilcke transferred 20,000 ETH, equivalent to over $72 million, to Kraken on Nov. 28.

His wallet still holds 106,006 ETH.

CryptoQuant’s community analyst Maartunn highlighted that this is the fourth time Wilcke has transferred ETH to Kraken this year, surpassing $147 million. He first moved 4,300 ETH to the exchange on Feb. 10, worth $10.6 million.

Wilcke moved 10,000 ETH to Kraken four days later, worth $27.2 million. His third deposit of 10,000 ETH, equivalent to $37 million, occurred on May 22.

Community scrutiny

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) and Ethereum co-founders have been under community scrutiny this year. 

On Aug. 23, the EF moved 35,000 ETH to Kraken, which sparked concerns from the community given the high value of the transaction — worth $94 million at the time of the transfer. 

EF contributor Josh Spark and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin clarified the reason behind the transfer, explaining that it was to foster institutions that boost Ethereum’s ecosystem.

According to the on-chain data platform Arkham, the EF-related addresses saw nearly 45,000 ETH in negative net flows in 2024. 

One week later, Buterin had to explain a deposit in ETH equivalent to $10 million, citing that he had never realized profits for self-gain since 2018. He added:

“All sales have been to support various projects that I think are valuable, either within the ethereum ecosystem or broader charity (eg. biomedical R&D).”

As of Nov. 28, Buterin-related wallets register a year-to-date negative net flow of 6,000 ETH.

ETH investors are especially worried by these transfers, given the crypto’s underperformance this year compared to Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL).

According to data from Artemis, Bitcoin and Solana have recorded close to 116% yearly returns in 2024, while ETH is up 51.5% so far, well below the crypto market’s average return of 109%.

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