Mysterious Whale Buys $1B in Ethereum as It Overtakes Mastercard

An unidentified entity has been on a buying spree for Ethereum, snapping up nearly $1 billion worth of ETH in just one week, a move that coincides with Ethereum’s market cap overtaking Mastercard.

Whale accumulates 221,166 ETH in a week

Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported that the mysterious buyer has acquired 221,166 ETH over the past seven days, representing a roughly 21% rally in price during the same period. In the past 24 hours alone, the entity purchased $212 million in Ethereum. The acquisitions are spread across six wallets linked to crypto firms Galaxy Digital, FalconX, and BitGo. The largest wallet holds $181 million worth of ETH, while the smallest still contains an impressive $128 million.

This aggressive accumulation comes as the number of Ethereum addresses holding over 10,000 ETH climbed to 868,886 on Saturday, the highest level in a year, according to Glassnode.

Ethereum’s market cap overtakes Mastercard

Ethereum’s surge has pushed its market capitalization to $523 billion, surpassing Mastercard’s $519 billion valuation. Publicly traded companies have been adding to their ETH reserves as well. CoinGecko data shows that over 304,000 ETH, worth $1.3 billion, was added to corporate treasuries in the past week. The biggest mover was BitMine Immersion Technologies, which purchased more than 208,000 ETH ($900 million), followed by SharpLink Gaming with $303 million worth of Ethereum.

Analysts eye $20K ETH

Bullish sentiment is spreading among technical analysts. Nilesh Verma forecasts that ETH could hit $20,000 within six to eight months based on historical price patterns. Meanwhile, Merlijn The Trader suggests the asset could even exceed that milestone.

However, not all voices are entirely optimistic. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed support for companies holding ETH in their treasuries but cautioned against letting this trend become an “overleveraged game” that could destabilize the market.

With institutional accumulation, rising corporate interest, and bullish technical setups, Ethereum’s momentum is undeniable, but history has shown that overheated markets can turn quickly.