Ethereum (ETH) is facing a whale war, crashing after a single seller liquidated nearly $400M on Bitfinex. At the same time, buyers swooped in as the price fell under $2,400.
Ethereum (ETH) is one of the biggest losers in early Monday trading after recently dipping under $2,500. The second-largest crypto, which was considered the indicator for an eventual altcoin market, lost its usual range close around the $3,300 mark and crashed as low as $2,400 on concerted selling.
The increased activity of whale selling and buying happened as ETH traded at $2,603.72, attempting a short-term recovery from its lows.
In addition to liquidations, ETH was pressured by sales from dormant wallets, who shed close to $400M ETH on the market. The first wallet sent out $149M , while the second sent over $201M to Bitfinex. The wallets have been dormant since 2019 when one of the addresses withdrew 77,736 ETH from Bitfinex back in 2019.
The pressure from whale selling arrives after more than four weeks of sliding Ethereum market prices. The price weakness of ETH also follows the recent attempts to revive the Ethereum Foundation and repair its reputation of simply dumping ETH reserves on the market. ETH also fell to a four-year low against Bitcoin (BTC), breaking down under 0.029 BTC. The ongoing slide against BTC is still not reversing, despite expectations for an overdue breakout.
Whales swoop in to buy ETH
Notably, the whale activity was not only on the selling side, which would have signaled a loss of trust in ETH. High-profile wallets also bought near the lows, starting a tentative price recovery.
The whale, or a group of whales known as Seven Siblings bought another 5,382 ETH near the market lows. In total, the whale wallets accumulated 50,429 ETH in the past 24 hours, partially offsetting the recent whale selling. The recent buying re-sparked hopes of a recovery, as the crypto market traditionally ends the month of February with net gains.
The whale group moved in while Ethereum was hovering at $2,480 to make its first big purchase of over 45,000 ETH.
As ETH still hovered near its lows, 1inch Investments also moved into the market, buying an additional 7,289 ETH and over 52 WBTC. The 1inch wallets have also been known as smart traders, who have achieved gains on ETH price swings. The wallets of 1inch Investments have been buying continuously for 24 hours during the recent dip.
For now, it is unknown if the activities of the ‘7 Siblings’ whale can sway the market and spark a recovery rally. ETH has been losing its appeal after long-term expectations that it will dip under $3,000. The current price drop to $2,500 is starting to affect even some of the older stakers, who locked their coins at this price range.
Ethereum capitulation reminiscent of the August 2024 market crash
The recent ETH market capitulation brings the August 2024 market dip back to mind, when crypto markets slid after the unraveling of the Japanese yen carry trade. ETH funding rates switched to negative, becoming an indicator of market panic. Ethereum also tested the ability of exchanges to handle volatility, as the price action caused a disparity of quotes and trades. The dominance of Ethereum fell to 9.61%, extending its weakness against other assets.
The market price volatility also affected the DeFi market, where the stability of ETH was a guarantee for a growing pool of loans. The DeFi space was hurt even more deeply as ETH flash-crashed as low as $2,080 on some markets, abandoning a previous period of relative stability.
Aave (AAVE), the biggest crypto lending platform as of 2025, saw $200M in liquidations in the past 24 hours, clearing out some of its bad loans. Aave had the biggest liquidation event since August 2024, once again stress-testing the protocol. The biggest share of liquidated collateral came from loans secured with Wrapped ETH (WETH), reflecting the recent market turbulence.
The Aave V3 version on Ethereum also saw the biggest number of liquidations, exceeding its record from August 2024. For now, the liquidations show the primacy of ETH as a tool for large-scale DeFi and especially crypto lending. The biggest Aave liquidation was for over $13M , once again secured by WETH.
After the recent price slide, the total value locked in Ethereum DeFi fell to $54B , from a recent stability level of $63B. Whale transactions also showed some of the WETH is being transformed into ETH again, moving to new wallets.
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