Will 2,450 ETH Whale Transfer Affect Trends?

A possible institutional investor, or whale, went long on ETH on August 14 and shifted their holdings to Binance with the transfer of 2450 ETH, which at the current price of Ether is worth $6.62 million. The whale supposedly bought Ether at the average cost of $1,303 in September 2022. If sold, it would realize a profit of $3.43 million.

The address has moved a total of $27.27 million worth of Ethereum, rounding up to 8,451 ETH since July of this year, whose average cost is about $3,227. This is an estimated profit of $16.26 million.

The address still maintains a 5,308 ETH balance, suggesting that they are far from leaving the market. Despite all this, the movement underscores just how much sway big holders can still have on ETH price dynamics and the need for crypto investors to keep a constant eye on such events.

Where is Ethereum headed?

From August 5 to August 13, 2024, Ethereum saw an increase in user activity. On August 5, active addresses came close to 182K, a low point that took a quick reverse trend as the number of addresses surged to 24K by August 6.

On August 9, active addresses shot up to 27K. The surge in addresses brought ETH’s price relatively stable, suggesting increased market activity and investor confidence. By August 13, both price and active addresses saw a slight recovery, indicating that the market is stabilizing after this period of volatility. 

Whale Accumulation Heat Map Shows Surge

The chart represents a fairly steady uptrend in supply held by these whales (excluding exchanges) over my observational time frame. This continued accumulation indicates that large whales are gradually increasing their ETH positions, likely in preparation for an EIP-1559 price surge. 

This accumulation phase is crucial because it suggests that whales are still long on Ethereum and believe that the token will trend higher overall. The consistent growth of whale wallets also adds to buying pressures on ETH during the accumulation phases. 

Nonetheless, sometimes prices fall even if whale inventory levels are increasing. This can occur as retail or small-mid-size institutional traders react to market stimuli differently from whales. Any dip in Ethereum’s price is only a chance for whales to hoard ETH. 

While one whale liquidating their ETH can cause retail investors to panic, investors should look at the on-chain metrics as the majority of the whales (excluding any changes) continue to support Ethereum