Whale Alert: BitMine & Mystery Buyer Gobble $882M in Ethereum as Retail Traders Flee
While retail investors hit the panic button, institutional players just made one of the largest Ethereum grabs of 2025.
Smart money vs. scared money
The $882 million buy spree—split between BitMine and an unidentified whale—comes as ETH dips below key psychological levels. Meanwhile, Coinbase order books show retail traders dumping at a loss (again).
Pro tip: When whales accumulate and paper hands capitulate, history suggests someone's about to get rich. Just probably not the folks selling now.
Bonus jab: Nothing boosts crypto adoption like watching your neighbor's FOMO turn into your exit liquidity.
Ethereum is now within 6.4% of its $4,891 all-time high from November 16, 2021. There have been consistent sell-offs from retail traders as crypto's #2 market cap has made this historic rally.Prices historically MOVE the opposite direction of retail traders' expectations.… pic.twitter.com/241va9Jc5L — Santiment (@santimentfeed) August 12, 2025
Corporate Ethereum Race Reaches Fever Pitch
BitMine filed for an additional $20 billion at-the-market equity offering expansion, boosting total stock sale capacity to $24.5 billion with proceeds targeting further ETH acquisitions.
The company aims to acquire and stake 5% of the total Ether supply, approximately six million ETH worth $22 billion at current prices.
SharpLink Gaming also reported holding 728,804 ETH as of June 30, with nearly 100% staked to generate yield through its transformation into an Ethereum treasury vehicle.
The company raised $400 million through a registered direct offering at $21.76 per share, projecting that ETH holdings will exceed $3 billion in value.
Corporate Ethereum holdings posted the largest monthly increase on record in July, climbing 127% to 2.7 million ETH worth $11.6 billion.
Twenty-four new entities joined corporate treasury ranks just this week, bringing the total to 70 companies holding significant ETH positions across various sectors.
Chairman Thomas Lee described BitMine’s strategy as pursuing the “alchemy of 5%,” separating the company from crypto treasury peers through both holdings size and stock liquidity.
The company’s five-day average daily dollar volume reached $1.6 billion, ranking 42nd among 5,704 US-listed stocks.
Retail Capitulation Creates Perfect Storm for Short Squeeze
As of Aug 13, short-term ETH holders realized approximately $553 million in daily gains according to Glassnode data, far outpacing long-term holders who remained relatively inactive.
Despite ETH’s 43% monthly surge, current profit-taking levels remained 39% below last month’s peak when prices traded NEAR $3,500.
Most recently, the “7 Siblings” whale group sold 19,461 ETH worth $88.2 million this week at $4,532 average price, marking their first major liquidation since accumulating 1.21 million ETH.
However, despite mixed market reaction, Ethereum is starting to look bullish to many.
Arthur Hayes has reversed his bearish stance with an $8.4 million crypto buying spree, accumulating 1,500 ETH alongside DeFi tokens after previously predicting ETH WOULD drop to $3,000.
His contrarian move coincided with broader institutional accumulation patterns during retail weakness.
Technical Analysis Points to Imminent Breakout
Ethereum consolidates around $4,439 after successfully breaking above previous cycle highs near $4,800.
The critical support level sits at $4,367, representing the former resistance that must hold as new support to validate the breakout above all-time highs.
Liquidation heatmap analysis reveals massive liquidity concentration positioned above current prices, particularly in the $4,800-$5,200 range, where short positions and stop losses create fuel for potential squeeze.
The visualization shows the majority of liquidity sitting above rather than below current levels, creating a characteristically bullish setup.
The institutional accumulation provides a fundamental catalyst to trigger a technical short squeeze setup, which creates conditions for explosive upward movement.
Retail panic selling during institutional buying creates afrom weak hands to strong hands, typically preceding major advances.
Current price position below major liquidity clusters suggests significant upside potential if buying pressure drives ETH into squeeze zones.
The three-day timeframe perspective confirms liquidity accumulation has been building over multiple sessions rather than a temporary phenomenon.
Ethereum appears positioned for a significant upward move toward $5,200-$5,400 range, contingent on holding $4,225 critical support level during any pullbacks.
