A deep-pocketed Bitcoin investor, identified as a “whale” due to their massive holdings, is shifting gears. They’re reportedly cashing out of their recent Ether long positions and making substantial purchases of Ether directly, suggesting confidence in the cryptocurrency’s future growth.
According to a report by Cointelegraph, this major Bitcoin holder, possessing assets exceeding $11 billion, divested 22,769 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at $2.59 billion. These funds were then strategically reallocated into 472,920 units of Ether (ETH), totaling $2.2 billion, along with a $577 million Ether perpetual long position on Hyperliquid, a decentralized trading platform.
On Monday, data from the blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain revealed that the whale closed $450 million of their perpetual long position. This move, executed at an average Ether price of $4,735, resulted in a profit of $33 million. Following this, the investor further increased their Ether holdings with an additional $108 million purchase.
“They’re still holding 40,212 $ETH ($184M) in long positions, showing an unrealized profit of over $11M,” Lookonchain stated in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter).
The trading activity of these large cryptocurrency holders, or “whales,” is closely monitored by other traders seeking to predict potential market shifts in the short term.
Over the past month, demand for Ether from these large investors has increased, as Ether’s price has experienced a significant surge of nearly 25%. This growth has considerably outpaced Bitcoin’s performance, which saw a 5.3% decrease during the same period, as indicated by data from TradingView.
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Analysts, including Willy Woo, suggest that these shifts in whale investments were a primary contributing factor to Bitcoin’s recent decline to $112,000.
Specifically, on Sunday, Bitcoin’s value experienced a sharp drop of nearly 2.2%, falling from $114,666 at 7:31 pm UTC to $112,546 within a mere nine minutes, eventually reaching a low of $112,174 at 8:16 pm UTC.
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Gracy Chen, the CEO of Bitget, one of the largest global cryptocurrency exchanges by daily transaction volume, anticipates a period of slower growth for Bitcoin over the next couple of weeks. This could, in turn, lead to a shift of investor capital towards Ether, potentially driving it to a new all-time high.
“Ether’s breakthrough past the $4,300 mark indicates a strong level of demand within its ecosystem, possibly signifying the start of an altcoin season,” Chen shared with Cointelegraph, further elaborating:
“Bitcoin’s price is projected to fluctuate between $110,000 and $120,000 in the near term, whereas Ether shows stronger potential, with targets ranging from $4,600 to $5,200.”
Chen believes that the “surprisingly accommodating remarks” from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell served as a significant catalyst, boosting risk appetite among cryptocurrency investors.
“On-chain data reveals a rotation of capital currently underway, with whales selling off Bitcoin to increase their exposure to Ether, further propelling ETH’s momentum,” she explained.
Chen’s remarks followed closely after Powell’s address at the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole on Friday, where he alluded to the possibility of renewed interest rate cuts starting in September.
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