Ether has rallied more than 9% over the last 24 hours, reaching a 13-week high of $2,880 on Nov. 7.

As this happened, an Ethereum whale, who had held more than 11,000 Ether ( ETH ) since 2016, appeared to cash in on massive gains.

Whale bought 11,000 ETH at $3.46

In February 2016, Ether traded at between $2.10 and $6.60 per token. Back then, the address added 11,005 ETH on the crypto exchange ShapeShift, according to Lookonchain. The onchain smart money tracker said the tokens were acquired at $3.46 each, putting the total cost at $38,000.

Trader moves millions in ETH after eight years. Source: Etherscan

Lookonchain said that after holding the tokens for over eight years, the whale decided to cash in on their profits. On Nov. 7, the trader moved the 11,005  ETH when the price was $2,777, putting the potential profit at $30.5 million, more than 800 times the initial capital invested. 

Notably, the address would have walked away with more than $52.8 million had they sold their ETH holdings at the height of the 2021 bull run when Ether’s price hit an all-time high of $4,800.

Similarly, these holdings would have fetched the whale about $44 million if they had booked profits in May when ETH topped $4,000 .

ETH balance on exchanges spikes

Selling by whales and institutions often coincides with increased exchange inflows. This time is not different, as ETH held on exchanges has jumped over the last seven days, rising from 18.8 ETH million on Oct. 31 to 19.2 million ETH on Nov. 7.  

Ethereum reserve on exchanges. Source: CryptoQuant

The jump is particularly noticeable between Nov. 5 and Nov. 7, when Ether’s price rose above $2,800, indicating possible profit-taking on the latest rally. 

While this might appear bearish for Ether, a long-term look at the balance on exchanges paints a different picture.

The total number of ETH held in exchanges is down 7% in 2024 and is currently near eight-year lows as part of a larger trend that has seen Ethereum exchange reserves dropping since the 35.5 million peak reached in June 2020.

Is Ether price poised to break to $4,000?

Despite signs of profit-taking and the rise in exchange reserves, Trump victory-driven optimism and spot Ethereum ETF flows turning positive suggest Ether’s bullish breakout may be underway.

“The price of Ethereum looks poised to break above this rising wedge formation,” said crypto analyst CryptoJack in a Nov. 7 post on X. 

He shared the chart below showing ETH price seeking to break out from a rising wedge chart pattern that has been in play since September. A decisive close above the wedge’s upper boundary would see the price breakout toward the $4,000 mark, CryptoJack said.

“Once it does, nothing is stopping $ETH from reaching $4k!”

ETH/USD daily chart. Source: CryptoJack

A similar setup was observed by fellow analyst Moon Whales, who pointed out that ETH needed high volume to confirm a successful breakout “to further gains and potentially retest higher resistance levels.”

Meanwhile, the ETH futures eight-hour funding rate has spiked to 0.022%, the highest since May, as per CoinGlass data. This suggests that long positions are becoming increasingly at risk of liquidation in the event of a price pullback.