A Bitcoin whale has been steadily amassing billions in Ether, surpassing the holdings of the second-largest corporate treasury firm and highlighting a broader trend of large investors rotating into cryptocurrencies with higher growth potential.
The $11 billion whale recently sold $215 million in Bitcoin to acquire $216 million worth of spot Ether on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid.
After this latest purchase, the whale now holds 886,371 Ether—valued at over $4 billion—according to Lookonchain’s Monday post on X.
Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen, noted that this growing demand from whales signals a “natural rotation” into Ether and other altcoins with greater upside potential, while Ether’s price also benefits from increasing corporate accumulation.
The $11 billion Bitcoin whale began shifting funds into Ether on August 21, selling $2.59 billion in BTC to acquire $2.2 billion in spot Ether and a $577 million Ether perpetual long position, Cointelegraph reported.
Last Monday, the whale closed $450 million of his perpetual long at an average Ether price of $4,735, securing $33 million in profit, before buying an additional $108 million in spot Ether.
This massive rotation has inspired other large investors, with nine “major” whale addresses collectively purchasing $456 million worth of ETH on Wednesday, according to Cointelegraph.
With this latest move, the whale’s $4 billion Ether holdings now surpass those of SharpLink Gaming—the world’s second-largest corporate Ether holder—which currently holds over 797,000 ETH valued at $3.5 billion. Some cryptocurrency whales are increasingly eclipsing the portfolios of major corporate crypto treasuries.
“Institutions are clearly expanding their focus beyond Bitcoin,” said Iliya Kalchev, dispatch analyst at digital asset platform Nexo.
He added, “In crypto, the trend is evident: while short-term price movements will continue to react to macroeconomic data, the long-term drivers—adoption, institutional inflows, and tokenized finance—remain firmly in place.”
