Ethereum surged over 8% to nearly $2,300 amid fresh accumulation from major investors. Data reveals Erik Voorhees spent $49 million on 23,393 ETH, joining other whales and ETF buyers. This trend continues despite Vitalik Buterin selling over $38 million worth of Ether earlier this year, which he stated would fund development projects.
Ethereum extended its recovery wave and surged over 8% in the last 24 hours to climb to almost $2,300. Blockchain data indicates fresh Ether purchases by a well-known early Bitcoin supporter.
According to blockchain analytics, early Bitcoin supporter and founder of ShapeShift, Erik Voorhees, has resumed buying Ether after a one-year break. Voorhees spent 49.08 million USDT to purchase 23,393 ETH at an average price of $2,098 through two wallets.
The firm also added that he had offloaded 12,886 ETH last year when Ether was trading at approximately $3,320. Other investors have also been accumulating Ether alongside Voorhees.
A wallet linked to an early Ethereum builder spent $17.46 million to purchase 7,769 ETH. Another whale identified as wallet 0x743d spent $24.79 million to acquire 11,985 ETH over the past four days.
The renewed accumulation trend comes as institutional demand for the asset has also strengthened. Data from spot Ethereum ETFs shows these funds have recorded over $160 million in net inflows over the past week.
On the other hand, Vitalik Buterin reduced some of his ETH holdings earlier this year. The Ethereum co-founder sold more Ether than he had originally planned.
Buterin had previously announced a plan to sell 16,384 ETH, but on-chain data found total disposals reached about 18,684 ETH. The entire stash is worth over $38 million.
The sales began in early February and occurred in several stages as ETH was gradually sold from his wallets. Buterin said the funds would be used to support open-source software and hardware development, privacy tools, and security-focused infrastructure projects.
He also described the move as part of a period of “mild austerity” for the Ethereum Foundation.
