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As Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, experienced a rapid price decrease, a fascinating development emerged: Ethereum whales began to accumulate massive amounts of $ETH, showcasing a strategic play in the face of uncertainty.
The term "whale" is used to describe individuals or entities that hold a significant amount of a cryptocurrency, and their recent action in the wake of a broader market downturn has prompted attention and speculation across the crypto community.
As the Ethereum price sharply fell to lows of $2,850 on April 13, on-chain data captured a strategic accumulation made by an $ETH whale or large holder.
According to Spot On Chain, the Ethereum Whale "0x435" spent 70 million $USDC to buy 23,790 $ETH as Ethereum fell to nearly $2,942.
Despite the recent 8% correction in the $ETH price (24H), whales are still buying $ETH!
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) April 14, 2024
1. Whale 0x435 spent 70M$ $USDC to buy 23,790 $ETH at ~$2,942 4 hours ago:
• In total, the whale has accumulated 60,808 $ETH ($191M) from #Binance and DEX in the past 15 hours, after each… pic.twitter.com/ujZRULGAkX
Based on data from on-chain sources, the whale's buying frenzy began days ago, when the $ETH price began to plummet, and included withdrawals from Binance and decentralized exchanges.
On-chain analytics firm Lookonchain reports one of the said whale transactions, which involved a withdrawal of 37,018 $ETH worth $120.7 million from Binance.
The said whale has accumulated 60,808 $ETH worth $191 million from Binance and DEX following each sharp drop in the last 24 hours and has withdrawn 62,141 $ETH worth $202.6 million from Binance in the past five days.
Currently, the whale has 85,931 $ETH worth $278 million, as well as $136 million in USDT and $USDC stablecoins in Aave.
The whale's actions coincided with a broader trend of Ethereum accumulation by large holders. Another mysterious whale, a fresh wallet tagged as "0xE347," was said to have withdrawn 7,300 $ETH worth $23.8 million from Binance and transferred it to Pendle Finance. A cVault.finance deployer paid 6 million DAI to buy 2,018 $ETH for almost $2,973, according to Spot On Chain.
At the time of writing, $ETH was down 6.05% in the last 24 hours to $3,060, up from intraday lows of $2,911, mirroring the broader crypto market crash. Ethereum declined for three days in a row from highs of $3,617 to lows of $2,850 on April 13 before slightly recovering.