Ethereum News Today: Ethereum Follows Gold's 2024 Blueprint as Whale Bets $250M on Rebound

A prominent cryptocurrency whale has deployed a $250 million leveraged long position across Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), with unrealized gains narrowing to $3.1 million as of late October, according to on-chain analytics. This move contrasts with broader market turbulence, where Bitcoin's price has fallen below its average cost basis, leaving other large investors with $6.95 billion in unrealized losses, according to a Yahoo Finance report. The whale's strategy reflects a high-stakes bet on a potential rebound in crypto markets amid a volatile landscape shaped by macroeconomic uncertainty and institutional activity.

The trader, identified by on-chain analysts as a key player in derivatives markets, holds a 15x leveraged long position of 1,610.93 BTC ($173 million) and a 3x leveraged long of 19,894.21 ETH ($77.4 million), according to a Yahoo Finance article. Despite earlier losses exceeding $10 million during Bitcoin's recent downturn, the position has stabilized as the market consolidates. This aligns with broader trends of strategic repositioning among institutional and high-net-worth investors, who are alternating between defensive shorts and aggressive longs to capitalize on price swings.

The whale's actions underscore a divergence in market sentiment. While some investors remain bearish—exemplified by a $75.5 million 10x short on Bitcoin opened by another whale via Hyperliquid, the same Yahoo Finance article notes—others are positioning for a potential Ethereum-driven recovery. Analysts point to Ethereum's technical indicators and institutional accumulation as key factors. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, for instance, recently acquired $251 million in ETH, adding 63,539 tokens to its holdings and becoming a major institutional player akin to MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy, according to a Brave New Coin report. This accumulation has pushed Ethereum's price toward $3,870, with bullish technical patterns suggesting a possible ascent to $4,440 in the near term, the Brave New Coin analysis adds.

Ethereum's trajectory has drawn comparisons to gold's 2024 breakout pattern, with top analysts like Merlijn the Trader and Ali_charts highlighting structural similarities, as noted in a Coin Republic article. "Gold led the way. Ethereum follows. Same pattern. Same setup," Merlijn wrote on X, emphasizing how historical parallels could foreshadow a five-digit price surge. Ethereum's correlation with gold reached 0.7 in Q3 2025, fueled by ETF inflows and DeFi growth. If this trend continues, Ethereum could enter five-digit territory over the next several months, though volatility from Federal Reserve policy remains a risk, Brave New Coin cautions.

The whale activity also highlights the fragmented nature of crypto market sentiment. While some traders are shorting Bitcoin and Ethereum, others are selectively bullish on altcoins like Ethena (ENA), holding mixed positions worth $70 million, the Yahoo Finance piece reports. This divergence reflects a broader theme of selective optimism amid macroeconomic headwinds, with investors hedging against uncertainty while targeting specific opportunities.

Bitcoin's recent performance, meanwhile, remains under pressure. A $235 million 10x short position opened by a high-profile whale earlier this month is currently in profit as Bitcoin trades near $108,000, the Yahoo Finance report says. This move builds on the trader's earlier $200 million profit from shorting Bitcoin's drop to $100,000, reinforcing their reputation as a strategic actor in the market. However, newer Bitcoin whales face significant unrealized losses, with CryptoQuant noting that large investors are now underwater since October 2023, according to the Yahoo Finance coverage.

The interplay between institutional accumulation and speculative trading is shaping the market's near-term outlook. While Ethereum's technical indicators and institutional buying signal potential for a rebound, Bitcoin's trajectory remains constrained by its average cost basis and macroeconomic factors. As whales continue to take divergent positions, the coming weeks will test whether the market can break out of its consolidation phase or slip further into bearish territory.