Major market participants are continuing to expand their holdings in Ethereum (ETH). They are investing millions of dollars in the second-largest cryptocurrency.
Despite recent price weakness, asset prices have only fallen about 3% this week. This discrepancy suggests that while prices are under pressure, the long-term confidence of institutional and whale investors remains strong.
Price weakness... Major buying pressure continues
According to BeInCrypto Markets data, Ethereum continues to struggle amidst a general market downturn. As of the time of writing, ETH is trading at $2,929.23, having decreased by 1.06% in the last 24 hours.
This decline has made some investors anxious, but others are viewing it as a buying opportunity. Onchain data analytics firm Lookonchain reported that BitMine Immersion Technologies purchased 67,886 ETH worth approximately $210 million.
This is an additional purchase following the 29,462 ETH (approximately $88.1 million) acquired from BitGo and Kraken the previous day. The consecutive purchases align with the company's overall Ethereum accumulation strategy.
Just last week, BitMine secured a total of 98,852 ETH, pushing its total Ethereum holdings over 4 million. BitMine's average purchase price is $2,991, and the current trading price is close to this amount, indicating that the company remains unfazed by recent price fluctuations.
Another major buying force is Trend Research. Led by Jack Yi, founder of LD Capital, this investment institution purchased 46,379 ETH today. As a result, the institution's total Ethereum holdings have reached approximately 580,000.
“They started buying ETH at around $3,400 from early November. So far, they have accumulated a total of 580,000 ETH (approximately $1.72 billion), with an estimated average purchase price of about $3,208. This means they are currently recording an unrealized loss of about $14.1 million.” – EmberCN, Onchain data analyst
In a public statement, the CEO revealed plans to invest $1 billion in additional ETH purchases. He advised against short-selling Ethereum.
Onchain whales are also moving actively. A whale address known as “66k ETH Borrow,” previously holding a total of 528,272 ETH (approximately $1.57 billion), added a further 40,975 ETH (approximately $12.1 million).
“Since November 4, this whale has purchased a total of 569,247 ETH (approximately $1.69 billion). Of this, $880.15 million was utilized from borrowed funds on AAVE.” – Lookonchain
Meanwhile, Fasanara Capital has utilized a leverage strategy. The company purchased 6,569 ETH (approximately $19.72 million) over two days and deposited them into the Morpho protocol. They then borrowed $13 million worth of USDC to make further purchases.
Ethereum whales are divided between buying and selling
However, not all major investors are buying. Some have reduced their positions. According to BeInCrypto, Arthur Hayes deposited 682 ETH (approximately $2 million) into Binance today.
Lookonchain revealed that he sold 1,871 ETH (approximately $5.53 million) over the past week and purchased Ethena (ENA), Pendle (PENDLE), and ETHFI.
“We are reducing our ETH holdings. We are moving funds to high-quality DeFi projects that are expected to yield higher returns as the liquidity of fiat currencies improves.” – Arthur Hayes, former BitMEX CEO
Adding to the selling pressure, Onchain Lens reported that a Bitcoin OG whale deposited 100,000 ETH (approximately $29.21 million) into Binance.
In the past, ETHZilla sold 24,291 ETH worth approximately $74.5 million to repay senior secured convertible bonds. Despite this conflicting trend, BeInCrypto reported that selling activity among long-term ETH holders has decreased by over 95%.
