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

▲ Ethereum (ETH)/ChatGPT Generated Image

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

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

These transfers were divided and executed across major centralized exchanges including Binance, Bybit, and OKX. Specifically, it was confirmed that fragmented deposits of 15,000 ETH, 17,000 ETH, and 10,000 ETH were made in several tranches. As the movement of assets from personal wallets to exchanges 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 evident 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 the outflow trend for three consecutive days. This trend has pushed the total weekly outflow to $160 million, dampening overall market sentiment.

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

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

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