"Novogratz Sells, Tom Lee Buys"...Ethereum Whales in a Tug-of-War

▲ Ethereum (ETH)/ChatGPT Generated Image

Tension over selling pressure is escalating in the Ethereum (ETH) market as large-scale asset movements by whale investors have been detected. In particular, wallets linked to Galaxy Digital have deposited large amounts of funds into exchanges, fueling a heated debate over the market's direction.

Bitcoinist reported on May 1 (local time) that a total of 45,000 ETH was deposited into virtual asset exchanges over 15 hours from two wallets associated with Galaxy Digital, a virtual asset management firm led by co-founder Mike Novogratz. According to data from on-chain data analysis firm Lookonchain and data analytics platform Arkham, the value of this asset movement amounts to approximately $104 million.

This transfer was divided among major centralized exchanges including Binance, Bybit, and OKX. Specifically, it was confirmed that the deposits were distributed in several transactions, including 15,000 ETH, 17,000 ETH, and 10,000 ETH. Since the movement of assets from a personal wallet to an exchange is generally interpreted as a preliminary step for selling, the prevailing analysis in the market is that Galaxy Digital is selling a significant portion of its holdings.

Outflows are also clearly visible in the spot Ethereum ETF market. According to data from virtual asset analysis platform SoSoValue, spot Ethereum ETFs recorded a net outflow of $87.7 million on April 29 alone, continuing a three-day streak of outflows. This trend has pushed the total weekly outflow to $160 million, dampening overall market sentiment.

However, accumulation movements, contrary to the large-scale selling, are also being simultaneously detected, adding to market confusion. Lookonchain stated that Tom Lee's BitMine additionally purchased 20,000 ETH, valued at approximately $44.8 million, on April 30. This brings BitMine's total purchase volume over the past 24 hours to 65,000 ETH, worth approximately $147 million.

Other whale wallets are also joining the trend of buying the dip. One whale wallet, inactive for three months, withdrew 4,361 ETH worth $9.98 million from the Kraken exchange, and another newly created wallet was observed withdrawing 2,000 ETH valued at $4.58 million from Binance. With selling and accumulation forces evenly matched among institutional investors, Ethereum's price volatility is expected to continue for some time.

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