The broader crypto market experienced a significant sell-off, losing more than $170 billion in total market value. Altcoins, especially Ethereum [ETH], were hit the hardest, and ETH fell to a low of $2,681, levels last seen in November 2025.
At press time, ETH traded at $2,714, down 8.2% on the daily charts, extending its long-week downtrend. With ETH dropping to a low of $2.6k, whale activity on both the spot and futures markets intensified.
After Ethereum dropped to a low of $2.6k, investors holding long positions saw massive liquidations. In fact, long liquidations jumped to $242.4 million, at press time, adding $175 million from the day earlier.
Amid this soaring liquidations, a prominent ETH trader, MachiBigBrother, was fully liquidated on his 25x long position. The liquidation resulted in Machi recording a $2 million loss, bringing total losses to over $25.8 million.
Despite this liquidation, Machibigbrother returned to the market and took another long position. The whale deposited $144,573 in USDC into Hyperliquid, adding to his ETH positions.
Another whale returned after two years of dormancy, sold 699 ETH for $1.87 million, and deposited it into Hyperliquid, according to Onchain Lens. The whale then opened an ETH long position with 20x leverage, valued at $18 million.
With whales entering the market after such a slip, this indicates confidence, as they expect the correction to be short-lived.
On the spot side, as ETH prices dropped, Ethereum whales rushed into the market to buy the dip.
According to Onchain Lens, a whale purchased an additional 20,000 ETH for $56.03 million. This brings the whale’s holdings to 110,154 ETH, valued at $311.26 million in staking.
The continued accumulation indicates whales’ conviction and suggests that they perceive the current conditions as ideal for strategic positioning.
Furthermore, exchange activity further echoed this buying-the-dip spree. According to CoinGlass data, $2.34 billion in ETH flowed out of exchanges, compared to the $2.19 billion in inflows, as of writing.
As a result, the Spot Netflow dropped 967% to $146.3 million, a clear sign of aggressive spot accumulation. Usually, a higher outflow tends to increase scarcity, thereby accelerating upward momentum, a prelude to price recovery.
Ethereum’s massive liquidations after the market crash further exacerbated downward pressure on the market. As a result, the altcoin’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) fell deeper into the bearish territory, dropping to 35 at press time.
At the same time, its Directional Movement Index (DMI) dropped to 13. further validating the downward momentum. When these momentum indicators drop to such low levels, they signal sellers’ dominance in the market.
Thus, although whales bought the dip and others opened long positions, these demand-side activities have failed to drive a trend reversal in Ethereum.
Therefore, prevailing market conditions indicate further losses for ETH. If the trend persists, ETH could drop again towards $2.5k.
However, if whales continue to buy the dip and absorb the sell pressure, the market will clear recent losses and reclaim $3k.
