A wallet linked to Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin has moved for the first time in more than three years, transferring $121.6 million worth of ETH to DeFi amid a brutal market crash that sent Ethereum to its lowest price since early 2024.
The timing couldn’t be more loaded, and the cryptocurrency market is paying close attention.
The sleeping wallet breaks three years of silence
The data on the chain is tracked by Onchainlens confirms The wallet associated with Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and founder of ConsenSys, transferred 80,001 ETH, worth approximately $121.6 million at the time of the transfer, after remaining completely untouched for more than three years. The wallet still contains approximately 243,300 ETH, making its remaining balance approximately $370 million in total value.
Three years of silence followed by a nine-figure move is not the kind of move that goes unnoticed in the cryptocurrency space. The community immediately flagged it as a potential signal of supply accumulation, a type of on-chain activity that precedes the distribution of OTC, exchange deposits, or DeFi collateral. As it turns out, it was the latter.
Lubin directs ETH to MakerDAO to manage liquidation risk
Instead of sending funds to the exchange, Lubin moved ETH to MakerDAO. Lookonchain data is shown 80,000 ETH worth $123.5 million was split between two wallets before being presented in the lending protocol as collateral. Against these guarantees, Lupine currently has $209.26 million borrowed from DAI.
This move seems deliberately defensive. With the fall of ETH, large collateralized positions in DeFi protocols face serious liquidation risks when asset prices fall sharply. By adding new ETH collateral to his MakerDAO position, Lubin is effectively boosting his health factor, buying himself more buffers before his borrowed DAI position reaches the liquidation zone. It’s real-time, on-chain risk management, for anyone who wants to see it.
Ether price collapses to 13-month low with no floor in sight
The background to all this is bleak. Ether has collapsed to $1,540, a level not seen since early 2024, and is now trading 67% below its all-time high in August 2025. There is no clear technical support and no clear catalyst for a near-term bounce. The market is in complete surrender mode.
Selling pressure is not just a spot. The derivatives markets reflect the same panic. A staggering $1.28 billion of leveraged long positions were liquidated over the course of just five days, representing one of the most violent deleveraging events Ethereum has seen this cycle. When long-term traders are wiped out at this scale and at this speed, it creates a cascading effect, forced selling fuels more forced selling, and confidence evaporates faster than liquidity.
DeFi exploits and liquidations exacerbate the damage
It’s not just overall pressure that is pushing ETH lower. A wave of DeFi exploits hit the ecosystem at precisely the wrong moment, exacerbating already fragile market confidence. The combination of asset price collapses, mass liquidations, and active protocol attacks is the kind of multi-front pressure that historically takes weeks or months to fully absorb.
The capital flight from DeFi has been significant. Investors who might otherwise sit idle and wait for a withdrawal are withdrawing funds from protocols as the risks of exploitation become more severe during periods of high volatility. The result is a vicious circle in which the decline in value added amplifies price weakness, which in turn accelerates further outflows.
What are Lupine’s move signals for the broader market?
This is where things get complicated. Lubin’s decision to collateralize his ETH rather than sell it is technically bullish, as it indicates that he does not want to liquidate his position and maintains a long-term belief in the asset. It borrows against ETH, and doesn’t take it out.
But the fact that the co-founder’s dormant wallet wakes up during a 67% drawdown and is actively managing a $209 million DeFi debt position is also a reminder of how much supply at the founder level is still there on-chain, monitoring the market, and interacting with it. The wallet still contains $370 million of ETH. This is a structural burden, regardless of intentions, and the market knows it.
Whether Lubin’s MakerDAO position will hold through this downturn depends on how far ETH falls from here. If $1,540 does not hold and the asset continues to bleed, even this round of collateralization may not be enough to prevent a liquidation event, which would force the protocol to sell its ETH on the open market and add more fuel to the fire.
For now, the Ethereum co-founder is holding on. Meanwhile, the market is still looking for a reason to do the same.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before purchasing any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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