Whales Who “Bottom-Fished” Ethereum See Substantial Losses Amid Price Slump
The institutional investor trend and prominent whale address investors dipping into Ethereum ($ETH) to capitalize on its lower price now seems to be a backfire of sorts, with these big-time buyers taking significant losses instead of achieving what they hoped was a temporary low before a stronger upside.
This past week, the price of Ethereum took a turn downward, despite the project reaching a historic milestone of 100 million total addresses. Numerous high-profile entities have taken to the dip and are now down significantly just in these past few days. Their accumulated ETH totals in the millions and in some cases even billions.
A Wave of Accumulation Turns Into a Sea of Red
The address most affiliated with Trump WLFI has made some notable moves of late. Over the past several days, the address has increased its Ethereum balance considerably. For instance, just from March 1 through March 6, this address added 4,468 ETH, with the purchases spaced over those several days so that they would not impact the market too much. (On March 6, Trump WLFI was clearly on a buying spree, as this was the day when most of the significant purchases took place, and the average price of ETH those purchases was made at was $2,228.7.)
While WLFI’s position represents a large sum, it is by no means an isolated case. Another address, 0x655…1e0B8, also appears to be in a difficult spot after purchasing 8,265 stETH at an average price of $2,218 just yesterday. This decision has resulted in a floating loss of $1.312 million, underscoring how quickly Ethereum’s price volatility can affect even large-scale institutional buys.
Redbase.eth, a whale that gathers attention for its large ETH accumulation, bought 6,100 ETH just a day before 0x655…1e0B8, also at a price around $2,200 per coin. The unfortunate timing of this purchase means that this address is currently experiencing a floating loss of $895,000, one more example highlighting the stability and predictability we tend to associate with the cryptocurrency market.
In a similar scenario, at the address 0x42a…C42f8, 4,505 ETH have been added to this position over the past six days at an average price of $2,171. This address is now facing a floating loss of $530,000. This serves to further highlight the overall trend of institutions facing immediate financial stress after entering the market. High entry prices in ETH have been seen across the board. Almost all presumption of upside in performance has been dashed.
Institutional Ventures in ETH: A Hard Lesson on Market Timing
In this situation, one of the most prominent players is Mirana Ventures. This is a venture capital firm that now has a significant position in Ethereum. They bought a large chunk of Ethereum—21,667 ETH—on February 28, 2023, at a price of $2,134 per coin. Since they made that purchase, the price of Ethereum has continued to fluctuate, but in a direction that is not favorable for Mirana Ventures. As of now, Mirana Ventures holds a position that is approximately $1 million underwater.
Besides Mirana Ventures, there are other big-name investors who have taken a hit from Ethereum’s wobbly market. One whale, who is credited with making a big profit off Bitcoin in the past, bought 10,000 ETH on February 15 at $2,388 per coin, believing that a market rebound was imminent.
近期「抄底」 $ETH 的巨鲸 / 机构们还好吗👀
不太好，七个地址已累计浮亏了 1,025 万美元…1️⃣ 特朗普 WLFI 于 03.06 增持 4468 枚 ETH，成本 $2228.7，已浮亏 75 万美元；而其整体 ETH 仓位（66,274.9 枚）的浮亏已高达 7737 万美元！🩸https://t.co/uWBvWzOZfk
2️⃣ 地址 0x655…1e0B8… https://t.co/2TNDESl9dj pic.twitter.com/z7XvfmVE5u
— Ai 姨 (@ai_9684xtpa) March 10, 2025
Instead, this move has resulted in a floating loss of $3.29 million, as Ethereum has not staged the kind of fast rally that he and many others expected.
Finally, an entity that had previously earned profits off Bitcoin by deftly timing its market moves has also taken a hit from Ethereum’s price decline. This entity accumulated 5,600 ETH since February at an average price of $2,432 and is now nursing a floating loss of $2.087 million. These losses reflect the difficult environment institutional investors find themselves in when trying to time the market and catch price dips.
The Bottom Line: Market Uncertainty Continues
The Ethereum whales are struggling—but that’s no reason to panic. The people who hold the most Ethereum and, by extension, have the most to lose if something bad happens to Ethereum are capitalized and have a lot of experience in the markets. If they are okay taking losses on paper (and they appear to be; you don’t see much in the way of panic selling from these folks), then how worried should we be?
Even while Ethereum grapples with price instability and a larger economic environment that seems to be working against it, the experiences of its wealthiest investors don’t inspire much confidence. These are the kinds of guys you would have thought might be leading the charge in Ethereum’s recovery. Instead, a number of them seem to be exiting stage left.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any Metaverse crypto coins.
