Once again, major market players are focusing on Ethereum. The whale activity surrounding the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has picked up substantially.
Big investors are once again accumulating. But look: this isn’t just happening over the last few weeks. If we focus even more narrowly, and just look at what has happened in the last few days, ooooh boy. Institutional Ethereum accumulation is looking real. All of this is hinting at one thing: institutions are really buying into the Ethereum story and are now much more interested in what the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has to offer.
Whales Are Actively Accumulating #Ethereum
Since the second half of 2024, whales have been accumulating $ETH, and this trend has accelerated sharply in recent days. pic.twitter.com/XSOW9KeikV
— CryptoRank.io (@CryptoRank_io) June 17, 2025
A specific institutional whale, in particular, has garnered attention with a series of big buys, highlighting that when it comes to Ethereum, the large players of this market see long-term value—regardless of how choppy the price action is in the here and now.
Whale Acquires Over 85,000 ETH in a Week
According to data from blockchain, one of the biggest institutions on the Ethereum blockchain has been hoovering up large quantities of Ether. The OTC deal’s sweet spot is where buying large amounts doesn’t make the market go wild. Since this institution already held USDC, acquiring Ether this way was smooth and quiet. The institution has spent 220 million dollars in seven days (which nearly doubles their Ether holdings since the last re-accumulation news). The average price this entity has been buying at in this Ethereum dip is 2,584.
The latest and most notable transaction came just 10 hours ago when the whale added another 15,000 ETH to their holdings for $37.16 million, reflecting a purchase price of roughly $2,477 per coin. This aggressive accumulation at scale demonstrates a level of confidence not often seen from individual or institutional actors in periods of price consolidation.
Even though the price of ETH has dipped somewhat, leaving these new positions with a floating loss of around $4.97 million—and about 2.25%—the whale seems completely unfazed. Rather than shuffling into different assets or taking write-downs, the entity has sent a very clear message of confidence in Ethereum’s long-term growth by moving all 85,465 ETH to staking.
Staking with Lido Signals Long-Term Conviction
The whale has taken the recently acquired ETH and staked it—not held it in wallets for potential trading or reallocation, as one might expect a good whale to do. The Lido move was the least liquid option for sowing or reaping ETH in the immediate future. Indeed, the decision to stake the amount suggests the great whale prioritizes yield generation over short-term speculation. It may also reflect his or her confidence in Ethereum as an investment.
When a whale stakes with Lido, they do much more than simply show support for the Ethereum network’s security and consensus mechanism. They aren’t doing this as a favor, as what follows shows. When you stake this quantity of ETH, you’re moving to a position where every month, roughly, you start getting paychecks of effectively risk-free, passive income. In the cryptocurrency space, staking is often touted as “the new mining” in terms of how much income earning potential it has.
This strategy also protects the whale from immediate market downturns because the staked ETH cannot be sold right away but is earning rewards that add up to substantial profits in the not-so-distant future. In an ecosystem that is more and more affected by regulatory oversight and an inflow of institutional money, staking ETH truly aligns with the cryptocurrency’s purported ethos—distributed, decentralized, and unstoppable.
$113M in Dry Powder Still Held on Aave
What’s perhaps even more telling than the ETH accumulation itself is that the whale still holds $112.94 million in USDC on Aave, one of the leading decentralized lending protocols. This reserve of stablecoins serves as substantial “dry powder” for potential future buys, signaling that this institution may not be done accumulating.
Keeping this money on Aave allows the entity to earn interest on funds that would otherwise be idle, while also maintaining liquidity for any future strategic, market-making purchases. It also largely maintains the entity’s position on Ethereum, which in turn, helps maintain the price of Ethereum.
Having these substantial reserves also gives the market another reason to be confident: if Ethereum’s price falls further, there’s a decent chance this vehicle will just buy more, guaranteeing that Ethereum’s price floor holds in the short term.
A Strong Signal in an Uncertain Market
Retail sentiment is often swayed by news cycles and short-term volatility, yet the major institutional players provide a clearer picture of retail direction. This week, we’re reminded that the surface of the market can be volatile, yet serious investors with long-term horizons are using these moments to build positions in our retail sector.
Expanding use and an influx of big players have changed Ethereum’s profile. These three things—utility, adoption, and deepening infrastructure—are shifting Ethereum’s status from a potential pathfinder in decentralized finance (DeFi) toward something with a little more heft.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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