An ancient Bitcoin holder, quiet for seven years, has suddenly sprung back to life. This "whale," a term for massive cryptocurrency investors, started scooping up Ethereum. This move comes at a curious time, right when the wider crypto market is feeling the pinch.
This particular investor holds over $5 billion in Bitcoin, a staggering sum. Last week, this same address poured $2.5 billion into Ethereum. And it seems they haven’t stopped there.
Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, recently slipped below $109,000. Ethereum itself saw a 12% drop from its own recent record high. Yet, amidst this market correction, a giant is making big bets on ETH.
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence first spotted this interesting play on Friday. They traced the digital footprint of this unknown, massive investor. "A whale with over USD $5 billion in BTC is buying ETH," Arkham shared on their X account.
Arkham detailed the activity further. They stated the whale "just moved $1.1 billion in BTC to a new wallet." It then "started purchasing ETH through Hyperunit/HL." They added, "This whale bought $2.5 BILLION of ETH last week and still keeps buying."
BREAKING: $5 BILLION BTC WHALE BUYING UP TO $1 BILLION
A whale holding over $5B of BTC is currently buying . He just moved $1.1 BILLION of BTC to a new wallet and has started purchasing ETH through Hyperunit/HL.
This whale bought $2.5 BILLION of ETH last week, and… pic.twitter.com/cMQWrYBmZb
— Arkham (@arkham)
Another data sleuth, Lookonchain, also picked up on the activity the same day. They labeled the investor an "OG" Bitcoin whale. This term points to a seasoned veteran, likely involved in Bitcoin’s early days, possibly around 2009-2013, or the so-called Satoshi Era.
"The Bitcoin OG who bought 641,508 ETH (USD $2.94 billion) is back," Lookonchain posted on X. They detailed further purchases: "After a two-day break from buying ETH, he simply deposited another 1,000 BTC (USD $108.27 million) into Hyperliquid, selling them and buying spot ETH."
Bitcoin Holders Eye Ethereum
This isn’t just a one-off event. It reflects a wider trend among deep-pocketed Bitcoin holders. They seem to be rotating significant wealth into Ethereum. While it’s not clear if every transaction links to the same individual, the pattern is striking.
Just this week, reports showed a separate whale moving 750 BTC, worth about $83.4 million, to the Binance exchange. Even before that, another large address reportedly sold more than 24,000 BTC. These funds then reportedly found their way into Ethereum, according to Jacob King, CEO of WhaleWire.
Vincent Liu, the Chief Investment Officer at Kronos Research, offered some context. He suggested that these big Bitcoin-to-Ethereum shifts likely involve multiple players. "It’s more likely the work of several whales or an exchange with significant holdings, rather than a single entity," Liu told The Block. "Large-scale transactions like this often involve institutional players or coordinated actions."
Ethereum Outshines Bitcoin’s Gains
Ethereum is clearly catching the eye of both big institutional players and everyday investors. This interest is not just talk; it’s backed by hard numbers. Corporations are aggressively buying it, and US spot ETH Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are seeing record inflows.
By August, companies holding Ethereum in their treasuries had accumulated over $9 billion. Separately, the new ETH ETFs have already pulled in nearly $4 billion. This shows strong market confidence.
This surge in interest helped Ethereum hit a new all-time high of around $4,950 just last week. Even with the recent 12% dip from that peak, its three-month gain of 74% still dramatically surpasses Bitcoin’s mere 4% increase over the same period.
Currently, ETH trades around $4,364.56, up 1.8% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin hovers below $109,000, showing a modest 0.2% gain. Both have faced losses of about 6% to 7% this week, with Bitcoin specifically correcting 12.5% from its peak of $124,000.