More than 1.035 million Ethereum worth $4.167 billion have been accumulated by unknown whales and institutions over the past month.
Summary
Whales, institutions amass 1.035 million Ethereum worth $4.17 billion in one month.
Average ETH buy price $3,546 as price surges from $2,600 to $4,170.
Analysts warn of overextension, advise ETH ecosystem plays instead.
According to analyst Ember CN, the massive buying spree coincided with ETH’s price surge from $2,600 to over $4,000, which is a 45% gain since July 10 and a 19.6% gain over the last seven days.
The institutional accumulation occurred through exchanges and institutional trading platforms and buyers paid an average price of approximately $3,546 per Ethereum (ETH).
Ember CN suggested most addresses belong to institutions or U.S. public companies building Ethereum reserves, excluding known addresses like SBET.
Binance moves ETH as price breaks $4,000
Arkham Intelligence data shows Binance hot wallets transferred thousands of ETH to market maker Wintermute within hours of the price surge.
The transactions began with flows of 250 to 500 ETH per transfer before escalating to larger movements including single transactions exceeding 1,800 ETH.
The Wintermute transfers suggest institutional demand needs better execution to avoid market impact. Market makers handle large orders by breaking them into smaller transactions or providing liquidity during volatile periods.
Ethereum’s 24-hour gain of 6.6% pushed the price to $4,170, approaching the previous all-time high near $4,800. The 30-day performance of nearly 50% shows sustained institutional buying pressure across multiple time frames.
Technical analysts warn of overextension
Analyst Michaël van de Poppe cautioned against buying ETH at current levels. He also described the move as “wild” and noted that prices have “swept the high.”
Poppe suggested the setup could lead to “a big breakout towards ATHs” but recommended allocating funds within the Ethereum ecosystem instead.
“It’s a little too risky to be buying $ETH at these highs,” van de Poppe posted. “I think it’s wiser to allocate funds within the $ETH ecosystem as it should yield a higher return.”
The analyst’s recommendation shows a common strategy of buying ecosystem tokens that may outperform ETH during rallies while maintaining exposure to Ethereum’s growth.
The $4.17 billion accumulation period coincides with increased institutional cryptocurrency adoption.
U.S. public companies have increasingly adopted cryptocurrency treasury strategies, with Ethereum becoming a secondary choice after Bitcoin for corporate holdings.