Long-Dormant Bitcoin Whale Bets Big On Ethereum Upside

A bitcoin wallet dormant for seven years recently became active, selling a significant portion of its BTC and buying Ethereum.

CoinTelegraph’s Zoltan Vardai reports that a multi-billionaire Bitcoin whale is closing his recently opened Ether long positions and buying hundreds of millions worth of spot Ether, signaling that big investors are expecting more upside from the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.

Last week, a Bitcoin whale worth over $11 billion sold 22,769 Bitcoin worth $2.59 billion, rotating the funds into 472,920 spot Ether or $2.2 billion and a $577 million Ether perpetual long position on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, Cointelegraph reported.

On Monday, the whale closed $450 million worth of his perpetual long position at an average Ether price of $4,735, to lock in $33 million worth of profit, before acquiring another $108 million worth of spot Ether, according to blockchain intelligence platform Lookonchain.

“He still holds 40,212 $ETH ($184M) longs, with an unrealized profit of $11M+,” added Lookonchain in a Monday X post.

Whale demand for Ether increased over the past month, as Ether’s price rose almost 25%, outperforming Bitcoin’s 5.3% decline over the past 30 days, TradingView data shows.

Analysts including Willy Woo are pointing to these whale rotations as the main reason behind last week’s Bitcoin slump to $112,000.

Cryptocurrency traders often track large whale movements to gauge short-term market trends.

On Sunday, Bitcoin fell nearly 2.2% from $114,666 at 7:31 pm UTC to $112,546 in nine minutes before bottoming out at $112,174 at 8:16 pm UTC.

Ether may target $5,200 amid Bitcoin’s crab walk: Bitget CEO

While Bitcoin may see a lack of momentum over the next two weeks, it may enable investor capital to flow into Ether, signaling a new potential all-time high, according to Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, the world’s sixth-largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume.

“Ethereum’s rally past $4,300 signals robust ecosystem demand and the potential onset of an altcoin season,” Chen told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Bitcoin is expected to trade in the $110,000–$120,000 range over the next one to two weeks, while Ethereum looks stronger, with targets between $4,600 and $5,200.”

Chen called Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s “unexpectedly dovish comments” a “key catalyst” to boost risk appetite among crypto investors.

“On-chain data shows capital rotation underway, with whales selling Bitcoin to increase Ethereum exposure, further accelerating ETH’s momentum,” she said.

Chen’s comments came shortly after Powell’s speech at the annual central bank symposium in Jackson Hole on Friday, where he hinted that interest-rate cuts would resume in September.

BitBull described whale appetites for Ether as “aggressive.” 

“Despite the ETH rally of 300%+ in 4 months, whales aren’t slowing down,” part of another X post concluded. 

“It seems like the rally isn’t done yet.”

Bitcoin still being stockpiled…

Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest public Bitcoin holder, added more BTC to its balance as the price tumbled to $112,000 last week.

Strategy acquired 3,081 Bitcoin BTC for $356.9 million during the week ending Sunday, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday.

Saylor’s business intelligence software company purchased its latest Bitcoin batch at an average price of $115,829 per coin, as BTC started the week at around $116,700 and slipped to $112,000 on Thursday, according to CoinGecko.

The acquisition brought Strategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to 632,457 BTC, purchased for about $46.5 billion at an average price of $73,527 per coin.

Strategy has historically avoided buying Bitcoin during dips, with Saylor openly preferring to purchase BTC at higher prices.

“I’m going to be buying the top forever. Bitcoin is the exit strategy,” the Strategy co-founder said in 2024.