Ethereum Dumps Hard, But Crypto Whales Are Buying the Dip

Ethereum tanks—yet the big players keep stacking.

While retail panics, whales see opportunity. They're scooping up ETH at levels others fear to touch. Classic smart money move—or just another high-stakes gamble in an unregulated casino?

No surprise here—when the market bleeds, the sharks feed. Meanwhile, your average investor watches their portfolio shrink and wonders why they ever thought 'digital gold' was a safe bet. Finance never changes; only the assets do.

In brief

• Ethereum reaches an all-time high of $4,955 before falling 9 % in less than 24 hours.
• Nearly 60 billion dollars of capitalization vanish amid high volatility.
• Despite the correction, institutional interest in Ethereum remains strong and active.
• Major players convert BTC to ETH, betting on a medium-term recovery.

Cascade liquidations and bearish sentiment

Just hours after reaching an all-time high of 4,955 dollars on August 24, Ethereum sharply fell to 4,415 dollars, before hitting a low of 4,352 dollars the next day, while its dominance reached a peak.

This retreat of nearly 9 % melted its market capitalization from nearly 600 billion to 529 billion dollars. Following this, Bitcoin also lost ground, falling to 110,584 dollars, its lowest level since July 10, before climbing back above 112,000 dollars.

Sell pressure triggered a domino effect across the entire crypto market, with a wave of massive liquidations amplifying the bearish movement. Here are some indicators :

• 266.36 million dollars liquidated on ETH in 24 hours, including 221M$ in long positions and 45M$ in short positions, according to Coinglass data ;
• BTC lost its post-Jackson Hole momentum, with a momentary collapse to 110,584 dollars.

In this tense environment, leading altcoins also recorded heavy losses. XRP fell 4.3 %, SOL 6.8 %, Doge 8.9 %, and SUI 9.1 %, while LINK, which performed well in recent days, lost 8 %.

This sequence reflects a market still sensitive to excessive leverage and volatility amplified by investors’ emotional reactions. In just a few hours, all gains made in recent days were wiped out, indicating a brutal adjustment in market psychology.

Bullish signals from institutional crypto investors

Despite this instability, some signals indicate that bullish convictions on Ethereum remain intact among some major players.

A wallet identified as belonging to an “OG bitcoin” who received 100,784 BTC seven years ago transferred 22,769 BTC to the Hyperliquid platform in the last five days to acquire 472,920 ETH spot according to Lookonchain, while opening a long position of 135,265 ETH.

The bitcoin OG who received 100,784 $BTC($642M then, now $11.4B) 7 years ago is frantically dumping $BTC for $ETH.

In the past 5 days, they've deposited ~22,769 $BTC($2.59B) to #Hyperliquid for sale, then bought 472,920 $ETH($2.22B) spot and opened a 135,265 $ETH($577M) long.… pic.twitter.com/uciVTlxR5W

This movement reveals a strategic shift in capital allocation, from Bitcoin to Ethereum, amid a correction period.

This renewed interest is not isolated. On August 25, Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) announced it had acquired 190,500 additional ETH, bringing its holdings to 1.71 million units.

Its president, Thomas Lee, praised the company’s ability to attract institutional funding for the second consecutive week. He stated : “at BitMine, we outpace our crypto treasury peers both by the speed of increase in crypto net asset value per share and by the high trading liquidity of our stock”.

These fundamental moves, combined with steady inflows into Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), suggest a strategic positioning ahead of a new bullish cycle. While the $5,000 threshold now seems within reach for ETH, some market players no longer hesitate to mention the symbolic target of $10,000, a level that WOULD push the capitalization beyond 1,000 billion dollars. From this perspective, the recent correction may be only a technical adjustment in a structurally upward trend, fueled by growing institutional interest and strengthened conviction in the fundamental of the Ethereum protocol.

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