Ethereum News Today: Crypto Whales Shift Capital to Altcoins Amid Leverage and DeFi Moves

Significant whale activity has been observed in the cryptocurrency market over the past 48 hours, with large-scale movements across altcoins and leveraged positions. On-chain data reveals that multiple whales are actively deploying substantial USDC balances across major exchanges to open leveraged positions, while others are strategically offloading tokens like LINK and SOL to generate returns via DeFi protocols [1]. These transactions indicate a shift in capital allocation from Bitcoin to altcoins, especially Ethereum and Solana.

One whale deposited $5.45 million in USDC into HyperLiquid, using it to open leveraged long positions on ETH (20x), BTC (40x), and altcoins like HYPE, LINK, AAVE, and MKR (10x). In a separate move, the same whale sold 123,500 LINK for $3.13 million, transferring the proceeds to TrustWallet to generate yield on Compound and Aave. Despite the sale, the whale still holds 425,000 LINK, valued at approximately $10.8 million [1].

Another whale deposited $15.47 million in USDC, opening long positions in BTC (20x) and BNB (10x), while also placing buy orders for ETH, SOL, LINK, and FARTCOIN. Meanwhile, a whale that had been inactive for eight months re-entered the market, depositing $1.56 million in USDC to open a 1x leveraged position in WLFI [1].

In another notable transaction, a whale deposited 1,400 ETH (approximately $6.63 million) into Kraken, generating a $102 million profit. Nine years ago, this whale acquired 24,959 ETH through Kraken and ShapeShift for just $258,000. Currently, the whale still holds 13,477 ETH (approximately $64.52 million), with 877 ETH stored in another wallet and 140 ETH staked [1].

Analysts have also noted increased whale activity in assets like Polygon, Aptos, and Dogecoin, with some suggesting these coins could benefit from continued inflows and market dips [2]. However, no direct causal relationship between whale behavior and price movements is implied here—rather, these trades reflect strategic capital deployment and potential signals of market sentiment [1].

Source: [1] Whales Have Been Very Active in Recent Hours (https://en.bitcoinsistemi.com/whales-have-been-very-active-in-recent-hours-here-are-the-altcoins-they-are-trading/) [2] Polygon, Aptos & Dogecoin Attract Whale Buyers (https://www.barchart.com/story/news/34353222/top-7-altcoins-to-buy-on-the-market-dip-polygon-aptos-dogecoin-attract-whale-buyers)