One shark put $49.7 million into Aave USDT as ether fell 5%, and holds $129 million in gold
The same shark wallet we covered on November 5 is back, buying Aave's USDT receipt in five steps. It also holds $129 million of tokenized gold, second only to its restaked ether.
Key points
- One Ethereum shark wallet, Hold4312, bought $49.70 million of aEthUSDT (USDT deposited in Aave) in five trades over about five hours to 6:40 a.m. ET on November 9, DeepSea's wallet page shows.
- The wallet lists $312.74 million in assets: $152.72 million of weETH, $129.40 million of XAUt (Tether's gold token) and $30.62 million of wstETH.
- CoinGecko showed ether down 5.2% in 24 hours at 6:41 a.m. ET, while XAUt was up 1.0%.
What DeepSea's data shows
DeepSea's live feed adds up trades by shark wallets (large wallets it tracks). In the 24 hours to 6:36 a.m. ET on November 9, the top row on its buying list was aEthUSDT, the receipt token Aave gives for USDT deposited on Ethereum: $77.71 million bought by eight wallets. The same row lists $28.01 million sold. That figure matches unpriced "sell" entries on Hold4312's page for a token whose name only looks like USDT, so we do not treat it as real selling.
One wallet stands out. DeepSea labels it Hold4312, the same address DeepSea's feed showed selling $80.5 million of aEthUSDT in one hour on November 5. Its wallet page, read at about 6:40 a.m. ET, lists five aEthUSDT buys: $17.00 million, $9.98 million, $9.84 million, $10.38 million and, about 13 minutes before our check, $2.50 million. Together that is $49.70 million, about two-thirds of the day's shark buying in the token. The feed's one-hour list also shows a single $2.50 million aEthUSDT buy by one shark.
Around those buys the page shows entries for spWETH (Spark's receipt for deposited ether) going out, 22,000 units in five hours, and USDS (Sky's dollar token) entries of $9.50 million and $16.77 million next to matching USDS debt-token entries. It also shows two XAUt buys of 500 tokens each, $2.02 million apiece. Two later XAUt "sell" lines, of 8,100 and 5,000 units, carry no dollar value, and the feed's one-hour XAUt selling was only $3,359, so we do not count them as sales. DeepSea's trade list does not say why the wallet made these moves.
Holdings: $312.74 million, made up of $152.72 million of weETH (restaked ether), $129.40 million of XAUt and $30.62 million of wstETH (staked ether). DeepSea's realized PnL table lists the wallet at minus $494,233 over 7 days and minus $2.36 million over 30 days. Who controls it is unknown.
Data: DeepSea (desea.io), checked November 9, 2026, 6:40 a.m. ET.
The market around it
CoinGecko showed ether at $2,121 at 6:41 a.m. ET, down 5.2% in 24 hours. Tether Gold (XAUt) was at $4,093, up 1.0%, with a $3.31 billion market cap. At that size, the wallet's XAUt is about 3.9% of all XAUt. CoinGecko priced Aave's USDT receipt at $0.9987, in line with its 1:1 link to USDT.
Where the money sits
Ether-linked tokens still make up most of the wallet, but gold is now a large share.
Hold4312 holdings, November 9
US$ million
About 6:40 a.m. ET, November 9, 2026. Source: DeepSea wallet page. aEthUSDT does not appear in this holdings list.
Why it matters
A deposit of nearly $50 million adds USDT that other Aave users can borrow, which tends to push the borrow rate down. On November 5, DeepSea's feed showed the same wallet taking out $80.5 million. Moves this size, in and out within four days, can shift how much USDT is free to borrow on Aave.
LC Insight analysis
This section is our reading of the facts above, not a statement of fact.
- We think the pattern of ether receipts leaving Spark, USDS debt entries and fresh Aave USDT deposits fits a large holder shifting loans and cash between lending apps. That is our reading. DeepSea's data does not show the reason.
- Apart from its restaked ether (weETH), the wallet holds more tokenized gold than staked ether. On a day ether fell 5%, gold tokens rose about 1%.
- The wallet's realized results are negative over 7 and 30 days, so size here does not mean recent profit.
What's next
- Whether Hold4312 pulls the USDT out of Aave again, as it did on November 5
- Whether its XAUt holding keeps growing
- Aave's USDT borrow rate after the deposits
Disclaimer. This article is based on public information and the sources listed below as of the update time shown. It is for information only and is not investment, legal or tax advice. Figures may change as companies and authorities publish new data.
Sources
- DeepSea, live feed 24-hour and 1-hour shark aggregate (fetched November 9, 2026, 6:36 a.m. ET)
- DeepSea, wallet page Hold4312: trades and holdings (read November 9, 2026, 6:40 a.m. ET)
- DeepSea, 7-day and 30-day realized PnL table (fetched November 9, 2026, 6:36 a.m. ET)
- CoinGecko, Ethereum price (read November 9, 2026, 6:41 a.m. ET)
- CoinGecko, Tether Gold (XAUt) price and market cap (read November 9, 2026, 6:41 a.m. ET)
- CoinGecko, Aave v3 USDT (aEthUSDT) price (read November 9, 2026, 6:41 a.m. ET)
