Despite rising geopolitical tensions that have shaken investor confidence and reduced risk appetite, Ether whales are wagering hundreds of millions on a price rebound for the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.
According to blockchain data from Hypurrscan, one major investor has opened a long position on Ether worth over $101 million, using 25x leverage at an entry price of $2,247.
So far, the position has yielded more than $900,000 in unrealized gains but has also incurred over $2.5 million in funding fees. If Ether’s price drops below $2,196, the position faces liquidation.
Just hours after the leveraged bet was placed, a second whale withdrew over $40 million worth of ETH from Binance, bringing their total Ether holdings to $112 million, according to blockchain data from Onchain Lens.
This surge in whale activity follows Ether’s drop to a one-month low of $2,113 on Sunday, after U.S. airstrikes targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities. According to Reuters, President Donald Trump hailed the strikes as a “spectacular military success” and warned of additional action unless Iran pursued peace.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran come amid a broader conflict that began on June 13, when Israel launched its largest assault on Iran since the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, triggering a wave of strategic missile exchanges between the two nations.
In the wake of the latest escalation, most Bitcoin and Ether traders are bracing for further price declines. Data from HyperDash shows that 64% of the top-performing crypto traders on Hyperliquid are currently shorting Bitcoin and Ether, while only 36% are holding long positions.
Ether investors adopt a “wait-and-see” approach
Most Ether investors are staying on the sidelines amid persistent geopolitical tensions and monetary uncertainty, according to Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen.
“There’s still a great deal of uncertainty in the market, whether it’s macroeconomic or related to the conflict,” Sondergaard said, adding:
“These factors, combined with the fact that if we look at options data, the view is still somewhat neutral, we are still in a sort of wait-and-see stage.”
Binance researchers have also linked Ether’s recent price decline to rising geopolitical tensions, cautioning that a broader market correction may still be on the horizon.
“Whether the usual ‘panic-then-recover’ pattern returns depends on how quickly geopolitical tensions ease,” Binance Research noted in a report released Friday. “For now, macro-driven pullbacks are still being viewed as buying opportunities rather than signals of a deeper trend reversal.”
Despite the market turbulence, the supply of staked Ether hit a record high of over 35 million on Tuesday, indicating that investors are increasingly opting to lock up their ETH for passive yield instead of selling at current price levels.
