With Ethereum trading close to $2,220 on the daily charts, whales and institutions bought the dip. This is interesting because over the past week, the altcoin saw minimal volatility, with its returns being flat.

However, even with the bulls going long, a key metric seemed to suggest that most of the positions were still bearish at press time.

Whales accumulate ETH, but delta leans bearish

Ethereum [ETH] whale accumulation has been growing under the surface for a while now. For instance, a whale with two wallets recently withdrew 18,550 ETH worth over $42 million in just five days.

Another acquired around 13.08K ETH, valued at $30 million, over the same period from Binance.

Similarly, a dormant wallet recently swapped $19.70 million USDT for ETH in another example of growing whale accumulation.

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Source: Onchain Lens

Bitmine too continued to acquire ETH this week. The entity capitalized on the dip with a 5,000 ETH purchase worth about $11.22 million. It now holds 4.96% of the total supply.

This may be evidence that large players are aware of the importance of the altcoin’s trading price. At the time of writing, the altcoin was valued at around $2,200, a figure which also doubled as the realized price for accumulation addresses.

If the $2,200-level holds, a bounce would follow, but a breakdown would heighten the probability of a deep decline. Despite this extensive accumulation, however, the whale versus retail delta was negative. This suggested that whales still maintained a slight net short position.

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Source: CoinGlass

For instance, Wintermute, up $222 million all-time on Hyperliquid, opened a $73 million cumulative short position with ETH accounting for $26.40 million. Therefore, a shift in trend direction would begin once whales’ position shifts bullish.

As it stands, they are continuing to exert selling pressure.

Can ETH recover despite weak market sentiment?

While whales have continued to position themselves around $2,237, the Fear & Greed Index had a reading of 32 (Fear) at press time. This alluded to weak market sentiment.

Market activity could shift this sentiment though.

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Source: X

For instance, a whale who went long on the altcoin at $2,221 after a sharp market drop seemed to be sitting on a floating profit of $252K. The whale has won his past 10 trades, reinforcing potential optimism.

However, for that sentiment to change, ETH bulls must keep the altcoin above $2,220 or $2,200. That would expose $2,425 as the next target for bulls. In case of a breakdown, the next areas of demand that could mitigate the drop would be $2,000 and $1,900.

Final Summary

• Whales’ net position remains bearish, despite strong accumulation trends.

• Profiting whales could fuel a change in market sentiment.