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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accumulated 60,808 ETH worth $191 million from Binance and DEX following each sharp drop in the last 24 hours and has withdrawn 62,141 ETH worth $202.6 million from Binance in the past five days.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 Another mysterious whale, a fresh wallet tagged as "0xE347," was said to have withdrawn 7,300 ETH worth $23.8 million from Binance and transferred it to Pendle Finance.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.