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 (BTC) worth $2.59 billion, rotating the funds into 472,920 spot Ether (ETH) 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.
Cryptocurrency traders often track large whale movements to gauge short-term market trends.
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.
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Analysts including Willy Woo are pointing to these whale rotations as the main reason behind last week’s Bitcoin slump to $112,000.
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.
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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.
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