Crypto analytics firm Santiment found that in the Ethereum market, while retail investors have been cashing out, whales and sharks have been boosting their ETH holdings.
Ethereum wallets holding between 1,000 ETH (whales) and 100,000 ETH (sharks) have added a net total of 1.49 million ETH (worth $3.79 billion) over the last 30 days, increasing their collective holdings by 3.72%. These major holders now control 41.61 million ETH, which is nearly 27% of the current ETH supply.
This behavior of whales and sharks reflects their confidence in the long – term value of ETH. Despite the fact that ETH prices have fluctuated recently, they remain optimistic about the future of ETH, especially considering the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade and the booming decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. In contrast, retail investors, influenced by market sentiment, tend to take profits and sell when prices fluctuate.
Whales are also actively involved in Ethereum’s DeFi space. The Ethereum Name Service has seen a 313.5% increase in whale transaction activity, and the Ethereum lending protocol has seen a 203.8% increase. In addition, the virtual protocol based on Ethereum Layer 2 and USDC transfers on Layer 2 solutions such as Arbitrum and Optimism have also seen triple – digit growth.
Although whales and sharks have been buying, ETH has only increased by 1.8% and 3.8% in the last 14 and 30 days, respectively. It is currently trading at $2,575, nearly 48% below its all – time high. The spot ETH ETF market also shows signs of institutional confidence in ETH. US – based ether products had a 19 – day inflow streak, with a total of $1.37 billion flowing into spot ether ETFs, mostly into the BlackRock – issued iShares Ethereum Trust ETF. However, on the 20th day, there was a net outflow of $2.1 million, ending the longest inflow streak since the product was launched in July 2024.
Overall, the contrasting behaviors of whales, sharks, and retail investors have created a unique market dynamic. The continuous buying of whales and sharks may bring new liquidity to the market and attract other investors to follow suit. However, the market is still affected by various factors such as regulatory policies and the selling pressure from retail investors, so the future price trend of ETH remains to be seen. Investors need to pay close attention to market dynamics and the trading behavior of whales to formulate corresponding investment strategies.
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