Ethereum Whales Buy $3.8B in ETH as Retail Exits

Ethereum Whales Accumulate $3.8B in ETH as Retail Sells Off

Ethereum Whales, Large Ethereum investors have been significantly boosting their Ether holdings while smaller traders take profits, according to new data from crypto analytics firm Santiment.

In the past 30 days, wallets holding between 1,000 and 100,000 ETH — known as whales and sharks — have collectively accumulated 1.49 million ETH, worth around $3.79 billion. This marks a 3.72% increase in their total holdings, Santiment revealed in a June 13 post on X.

“While retail traders have been exiting the market, whales and sharks have quietly added to their bags,” the firm noted.

These heavyweight investors now hold approximately 41.61 million ETH, accounting for nearly 27% of the circulating supply of the asset as of June 12.

DeFi Sees a Surge in Whale Activity

Ethereum whales aren’t just buying ETH — they’re becoming increasingly active in the network’s decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

Santiment reported a sharp spike in whale transactions across several Ethereum-based platforms. Ethereum Name Service led the way with a 313.5% jump in whale activity in the second week of June, followed by Ethereum lending protocols with a 203.8% increase.

Activity also surged in layer-2 ecosystems like Base and in USD Coin (USDC) transfers on Arbitrum and Optimism, reflecting growing institutional interest in Ethereum’s broader ecosystem.

Despite this flurry of high-value transactions, ETH’s price remains relatively stagnant. It gained just 1.8% over the past two weeks and 3.8% in the last 30 days, trading around $2,575 — still down nearly 48% from its all-time high, per CoinGecko.

Inflows Into Spot ETH ETFs Finally Pause

Signs of institutional trust in Ethereum had been mounting, with spot ETH ETFs in the U.S. enjoying a record-setting 19-day inflow streak — until it came to a halt last Friday.

The streak ended with $2.1 million in net outflows, breaking the longest run of net inflows since ETH ETFs began trading in July 2024, according to Farside Investors.

During the nearly three-week run, a total of $1.37 billion flowed into Ether ETFs, led primarily by BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust.

SharpLink’s ETH Strategy Faces Market Backlash

Elsewhere, the first public company to announce an Ethereum-based treasury strategy, SharpLink Gaming, saw its stock plummet by 73% in after-hours trading last Thursday.

The sharp drop came after the company filed to register a large batch of shares for possible resale — a move that appeared to concern investors.

SharpLink had previously revealed plans to sell up to $1 billion in shares, with a significant portion of proceeds aimed at purchasing ETH. Company chairman Joseph Lubin, who also leads Consensys, later clarified that investors had misunderstood the intention behind the filing.