Tron founder Justin Sun has executed a massive on-chain transaction, withdrawing approximately 45,000 ETH—valued at roughly $154.5 million—from the decentralized lending protocol Aave and immediately depositing the full amount into Lido for liquid staking. The move, which occurred on November 6th, has been monitored by on-chain intelligence platforms like Arkham and Nansen, and is interpreted by many traders as a strong, long-term bullish signal for Ethereum (ETH).
The transaction represents a strategic shift of funds from a lending position (Aave) to a yield-generating staking position (Lido), where the assets are converted into Staked Ether (stETH).
Following the staking operation, Sun’s public wallet briefly held more value in Ethereum (approximately $534 million) than in his own protocol’s native token, TRON (TRX), which was valued at $519 million.
Analysts suggest the withdrawal and subsequent re-staking indicate that the wallet may be undergoing an internal restructuring. Arkham’s AI agent specifically pointed to the timing of the decision: “The decision to earn staking rewards rather than selling, particularly during a period where ETH had experienced a notable price decline… underscores a conviction in ETH’s future performance and the value of yield generation,” the platform’s analysis stated.
The move fueled bullish commentary among crypto traders, with some users online referencing Sun’s historical investment patterns in ETH. “Justin Sun staking 45k eth in Lido? Bullish signal for ETH long term,” one trader noted on a monitoring platform.
Despite the whale accumulation, Ethereum’s price has been on a downward trend, declining over 12% in the past week and trading around the $3,395 threshold at press time.
According to data from Nansen, Sun’s current public wallet holdings are valued at approximately $2.57 billion combined. After the recent restructuring, his largest holdings are:
- TRX (Tron): $702.2 million (2.4 billion tokens)
- Staked Ethereum (stETH): $483.7 million
- USDT (Tether): $400 million
The remainder of his holdings are spread across other tokens, including AETHWETH, STRX, and others. The shift from holding ETH as a lending asset to holding stETH confirms a change in strategy toward optimizing passive yield generation on the Ethereum network.
