Ethereum News Today: Institutions Stockpile ETH Amid Market Sell-Off, Highlighting Investor Split

Ethereum's on-chain landscape remains a focal point for market participants as whale activity highlights diverging strategies amid ongoing price volatility. While institutional investors like BitMine continue to double down on ETH accumulation, individual high-stakes traders are scaling back positions, reflecting broader uncertainty in the market. The token's price, which recently failed to reclaim the $2,800 level despite ETF inflows, has dropped 19.4% over 14 days, signaling sustained selling pressure.

One of the most notable moves came from BitMine, which added 21,537 ETH-valued at $59.17 million-to its holdings on November 23. The purchase, sourced from institutional prime broker FalconX, brings the firm's total ETH stash to over 3.5 million tokens, or nearly 3% of the circulating supply. This move defies a 47% slump in BitMine's stock price and $4 billion in unrealized losses on its ETH holdings. The company attributed the recent drawdown to a liquidity shock in October, which erased $20 billion in leveraged positions globally, rather than deteriorating fundamentals. To offset declining asset prices, BitMine announced plans for a US-based validator network called MAVAN, aiming to generate staking revenue and rebrand as an active yield generator.

Meanwhile, individual whale activity painted a mixed picture. Huang Licheng, known as "Buddy", reduced his ETH long position by 25 times, leaving him with just 1 ETH in his "Ant Nest" position. This adjustment has cost him $1.39 million in the past week alone, with total account losses reaching $18.56 million over the last month. Conversely, an AAVE whale increased holdings by 24,000 tokens by $4 million following the October flash crash, now holding 276,000 AAVE with an average cost of $165. This suggests a long-term bias despite historic volatility https://en.coinotag.com/breakingnews/aave-whale-increases-holdings-by-24000-now-276000-aave-at-165-avg-following-10-11-flash-crash.

Leveraged positions also saw significant movement. A wallet identified as "0x184" deposited 1 million USDC into HyperLiquid to open a 25x leveraged ETH long at $2,799.01, with a liquidation price of $2,628.69. The position size of 4,685 ETH underscores the risk appetite of institutional actors in a sideways market https://www.lookonchain.com/feeds/38192. Meanwhile, the 1inch team added $4.785 million worth of 1INCH tokens, now holding 119 million tokens valued at $21.74 million https://www.lookonchain.com/feeds/38192.

The broader Ethereum ecosystem faces challenges as ETF inflows fail to translate into price stability. While BitMine's CEO Thomas Lee remains bullish, citing historical V-shaped recoveries post-liquidity shocks, the market's technical indicators remain bearish. Ethereum's 30-day decline of nearly 29% contrasts with BitMine's aggressive accumulation, highlighting the divergence between institutional and retail sentiment.