Ethereum whales start betting: buying aggressively while selling, is ETH brewing a big move?

January 26 News, entering late January 2026, Ethereum whale activities show a clear divergence. On one side, large funds continue to buy and transfer into long-term storage; on the other side, early holders are beginning to release chips into the market. Against the backdrop of price pressure, this hedging behavior between bulls and bears makes ETH’s short-term trend full of uncertainty.

On-chain data shows that Ethereum has given back all its gains since the beginning of the year, with performance turning to decline, and the price still hovering below $3,000. Lookonchain disclosed that an OTC whale address has accumulated over 70,000 ETH in the past five days, worth more than $200 million. Meanwhile, CryptoQuant monitors show that Ethereum’s exchange reserves continue to decline, which is often seen as a sign of shrinking seller supply and capital flowing into long-term holdings.

Some whales are also rotating assets. The DeFi project World Liberty Financial, supported by President Trump, exchanged Bitcoin for thousands of ETH. Another large address also converted BTC into ETH, indicating that some funds are betting on Ethereum’s relative advantage in this cycle. However, not all movements are optimistic. A long-dormant early Ethereum whale recently transferred 50,000 ETH into a market-related address. This account still holds a large amount of chips, which is seen as a potential profit-taking or asset rebalancing move.

Short-term trading whales are also worth noting. The address 0x3c9E tracked by Lookonchain has bought high and sold low in recent days, reflecting that some funds are adopting quick in-and-out strategies amid market volatility, which also intensifies ETH’s short-term fluctuations.

Despite the divergence among whales, the fundamentals of the Ethereum network continue to improve. CryptoOnchain data shows that the seven-day average of active addresses has risen to about 718,000, hitting a new high. The price is consolidating while on-chain usage increases, forming a clear bullish divergence, which is often seen as a sign of upcoming momentum buildup. Whether it is Layer-2 expansion, a rebound in DeFi activity, or increased retail participation, all are driving the network’s real demand stronger.

In the context of whale battles and on-chain growth coexisting, Ethereum is at a critical turning point. When ETH’s price will reprice depends on the resonance between capital flows and macro environment.