Crypto: Ethereum Breaks Above $2,700 After $106 Million in Buying

Ethereum rises back above $2,700 with two big buyers leading the way. In five days, two whales have engaged about $106.4 million in ETH. The largest sold 1,107 BTC before buying 34,422 ETH and staking the entire amount. The move comes as Ethereum ETFs recorded about $140 million in outflows for the week ending September 18. In the crypto market, large wallets appear much more aggressive than funds this week.

A whale converts $86.7 million of Bitcoin into ETH crypto

The biggest move comes from Hyperliquid. In five days, a whale sold 1,107 BTC, about $86.76 million, then bought 34,422 ETH for nearly $86.5 million. The ETH was not sent back to a platform to be resold: they were all staked.

The move is worth comparing with another recent figure. ETH reserves on crypto platforms fell to 14.88 million tokens, a multi-year low, while staking reached 43.1 million ETH in early September.

The same whale had already started moving a few days earlier. On September 18, eleven new wallets probably linked to the same actor sold 602 BTC against 18,780 ETH. Since then, about 505 additional BTC have been sold and 15,642 ETH added.

This is not the only recent rotation from Bitcoin to ETH crypto. Another wallet exchanged 866 BTC for 26,924 ETH a few hours before the vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15. In both cases, these are observable on-chain movements. The exact identities and motivations of the owners remain unknown.

A second buyer returns with $32.17 million in USDC

The second wallet, identified by the start of its address 0x4cee, already has a rather eventful history with Ethereum. On July 21, it sent 20 million USDC to Binance before withdrawing 10,501 ETH, bought around $1,904. One month later, it resold about 10,500 ETH at $2,252, making an estimated profit of $3.66 million.

It returned in September, at a higher price. Three real transfers to Binance appear on the blockchain: 2 million USDC, then 18 million, and finally 12.17 million. Total: $32.17 million. The wallet then withdrew 7,567 ETH worth about $19.93 million.

So there would remain nearly $12 million of the deposit without any identifiable on-chain ETH purchase. This sum could still be on Binance. There is currently no evidence that it will be fully used to purchase ETH crypto.

These purchases also come after several weeks of accumulation elsewhere in the ecosystem. BitMine, for example, recently added 27,180 ETH for about $68 million, bringing its reserves to nearly 6 million ETH. The amounts are no longer negligible.

Ethereum surpasses $2,700, crypto ETFs move in the opposite direction

ETH was trading around $2,738 at the time of data release, up about 6% over 24 hours and 11% over thirty days. Ethereum had not passed $2,700 since January 31.

The contrast with ETFs is quite clear. Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded about $140 million in net outflows during the week ending September 18. The two whales studied meanwhile engaged just over $106 million. This does not mean their purchases alone explain the price increase. Bitcoin was also rising toward $85,000 and the overall crypto market was advancing.

Ethereum was already building momentum. A few days earlier, ETH had gained 7.46% to reach $2,619 after the publication of U.S. inflation figures. Cointribune had followed this initial rebound of Ethereum above $2,600 Large wallets now add another data point: 34,422 ETH staked by one whale. 7,567 ETH withdrawn from Binance by another. A total of $106.4 million engaged. And meanwhile, listed funds are recording outflows.