Whale Garrett Jin, BlackRock, Fidelity Move $260M in Ether
Nearly $260 million of Ether moved May 8 after Garrett Jin deposited $178M to Binance and BlackRock and Fidelity sent 35,394 ETH to Coinbase Prime, totaling more than 113,000 ETH.
On May 8, roughly $260 million of Ether changed hands on-chain after a large private-wallet transfer and institutional movements. Garrett Jin moved about $178 million worth of ETH to Binance. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust sent 11,475 ETH to Coinbase Prime, and Fidelity transferred 23,919 ETH to Coinbase Prime, for a combined institutional transfer of 35,394 ETH. Together the transfers on May 8 and earlier brought the total on-chain flow to slightly more than 113,000 ETH.
On-chain records show the wallet tagged #BitcoinOG1011 still holds about 303,618 ETH, valued near $692.5 million, and 9,343 bitcoin. The same address sent 165,000 ETH to Binance two days earlier. The wallet is linked on-chain to Garrett Jin, the former BitForex chief executive, whose trading history includes a reported $735 million BTC short ahead of the October 2025 market decline. On-chain data do not indicate whether transfers were intended for spot selling, hedging or portfolio rebalancing.
The institutional transfers followed $103.51 million in net outflows from U.S. spot Ether ETFs on May 7. Fidelity’s FETH led outflows with about $62.26 million, followed by BlackRock’s ETHA at $26.31 million. Transfers of ETF-held Ether to custody platforms such as Coinbase Prime are used for creation and redemption baskets, custody reallocation and settlement with authorized participants, and do not always lead to immediate spot-market sales.
Ether traded near $2,289 at the time of the May 8 transfers. Market participants are watching ETF flow reports and Binance order books for any exchange activity tied to the deposits. Large transfers to exchange-linked addresses can enter the order book and affect liquidity and price, but similar on-chain patterns previously reflected non-sale activities including custody adjustments.
The wallet’s pattern of rotating between bitcoin and Ether has continued into 2026. Further clarity on intent and market impact will depend on subsequent exchange activity, ETF flow updates and order-book developments.
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