Ethereum whales are pulling the market in opposite directions as January drew to a close, highlighting a growing clash between accumulation and distribution amid sustained price pressure.
ETH has erased its early 2026 gains and is down nearly 20% year-to-date, trading at approximately $2,111 after a 5.18% daily surge. The asset has also declined by more than 10% over the past week, struggling to reclaim the $3,000 level.
On one side of the divide, large holders are slowly building long-term exposure, as an over-the-counter whale address identified as 0xFB7 recently purchased 20,000 ETH, valued at approximately $56.1 million. Over the past five days alone, the same address has accumulated roughly 70,013 ETH, valued at nearly $203.6 million.
This behavior mirrors a trend observed last week, when whales collectively added more than 350,000 ETH in a single day. Meanwhile, Ethereum exchange reserves continue to decline, suggesting reduced sell-side supply as whales move assets into longer-term storage.
Furthermore, the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial reduced its Bitcoin exposure by swapping 93.77 WBTC, valued at $8.08 million, for 2,868 ETH. Another large address rotated out of 120 BTC, valued at $10.68 million, into 3,623 ETH.
However, not all signals are constructive. An early Ethereum whale deposited 50,000 ETH worth $145.25 million into Gemini after nine years of inactivity. Despite still holding 85,000 ETH valued at nearly $244 million, large transfers to exchanges often raise concerns about potential selling pressure or profit realization after a 32-fold price increase since acquisition.
Despite this tug-of-war, Ethereum’s network fundamentals remain resilient. The seven-day average of active addresses has surged to a record 718,000, creating a bullish divergence between stagnant price action and accelerating network activity. Historically, similar patterns have preceded upward repricing as fundamentals catch up with valuation.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin wallets holding at least 1,000 BTC have accumulated over 104,000 coins recently, even as BTC trades near $70,891 amid broader macro caution.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/ethereums-tug-of-war-fresh-whale-buying-meets-9-year-hodler-selling-145m-into-exchange/
