Whale Activity, Liquidations, and Ethereum ETFs Signal Volatile Market Dynamics

Will Izuchukwu

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News Will Izuchukwu March 31, 2025

Over the last two weeks, substantial movements have occurred in the Ethereum market, especially among large holders, referred to as “whales,” who have been shifting around great amounts of Ethereum (ETH).

Although this sort of activity isn’t unusual in the cryptocurrency world—especially for something as volatile as ETH—the transactions’ sheer size and their nature have led to lots of chatter about where exactly the price of Ethereum is headed and how likely it is to experience even more volatility in the near future. Consider the following: In just the last week, at least 24 separate transaction batches moving at least 200,000 ETH (worth around $360 million) have been identified. That’s a lot of movement to be happening all at once.

Liquidations and the Threat of Whale-Led Liquidations

Recently, one of the mass liquidations has been of long Ethereum positions. In a dramatic move, up to $165 million worth of Ethereum positions were liquidated just today. This type of liquidation can cause a “significant volatility,” especially in a market as susceptible to price swings as the cryptocurrency space. But that volatility is also feeding back into Ethereum’s price, since traders are seeing these liquidation events as a sign that Ethereum’s “unraveling” is intensifying.

For investors, the looming threat of further liquidations connected to the holdings of two well-known Ethereum whales is perhaps the most worrying development. These whales have a total of 125,603 ETH (worth about $238 million) deposited with Maker, a decentralized lending platform where crypto users can secure loans against their actually held assets. However, these positions have a dangerously low health factor of $1.07. If the price of ETH keeps falling, these huge Maker loans could get liquidated. Right now, the two Maker positions have liquidation prices of $1,805 and $1,787. For the last several days, ETH has traded well under those numbers, causing market participants to fret over what the two whales might do next—and what the consequences of those potential actions might be for the broader market.

Whale Activity and Strategic Buys

Not all major players are bearish on Ethereum. Some are definitely bullish on it. Just one hour ago, a whale made a strategic purchase of 3,195 ETH—valued at approximately $5.97 million—at a price of $1,868.

Accumulated by this same player since March 26, the following assets represent the current position of this whale:

– Total ETH held: 29,341 (worth around $58.18 million)

– Average purchase price for the batch: $1,983

The above purchase and accumulation activity suggest that some very big players are eyeing these price levels for what could be a very attractive buying opportunity.

This purchasing action, particularly by whales, has the potential to stabilize Ethereum’s price and counter the current sell-off. Whales are often a significant influence on the price and liquidity of the market; their buying and selling decisions have a large effect on the overall dynamics. Will these whales continue to accumulate Ethereum in the next few days, or fold it all back up if the market appears to be under further downward pressure?

Ethereum ETFs: A Bright Spot Amid Volatility

Amid liquidations and whale activity, Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have surfaced as a positive indicator of Ethereum’s market health. On March 28, Ethereum ETFs saw a net inflow of $4.68 million, a solid showing for institutional interest in Ethereum. This was a notable development considering that none of the nine Ethereum ETFs tracked by FactSet saw net outflows during this time. The steady inflow into Ethereum ETFs suggests that, despite the price fluctuations, there is continued institutional interest in Ethereum.

Ethereum ETFs are often regarded as an easier point of entry for conventional investors who might be uncomfortable holding Ethereum directly. Their increasing prominence suggests that more institutional investors are taking positions in Ethereum, thereby further legitimizing it as a long-term investment asset.

Conclusion

The current Ethereum market is quite dynamic, to say the least, and it’s hard to gauge which way it’s headed when whale activity and large liquidations are simultaneously sculpting its price trajectory.

That said, beneath all this turbulence, some accumulating whales continue to bolt down even more ETH; other studious whales, long in liquidation risk, could soon be sloshing part of their ETH hoard back into the market if they get forced out of their leveraged long positions.

Meanwhile, on the ETF front, the Ethereum ETF market, precariously tethered to the price of ETH, is seeing some net inflows that remember keenly their recent foray into the price (up, then clearly down) of Bitcoin ETFs.

The current environment offers investors both difficulties and prospects. Although certain investors are making bearish calls and betting that Ethereum’s price will continue to drop, others view the current environment as an accumulation opportunity and are scooping up the asset at what they see as a discounted price. The market remains hyper-responsive to three key things right now: whale activity (or the lack of it), and two broader economic factors that right now are really dominating the conversation: inflation and interest rates. Both of these could end up being double-edged swords for crypto.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any Metaverse crypto coins.

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Will Izuchukwu

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