A major shift in whale behavior is reshaping the crypto market. A longtime Bitcoin “OG” holder, once dormant for years, has executed one of the largest rotations in recent history. Meanwhile, another whale sale triggered a flash-crash in Bitcoin.
The first whale, once dormant for years, offloaded large amounts of BTC to amass roughly $4 billion in Ethereum (ETH) holdings. While the other whale wiped out gains from a Powell-driven rally.
On August 25 and 26, the Bitcoin OG sold about 6,000 BTC in two large trades, 4,000 BTC in 12 hours and another 2,000 BTC over four hours, to purchase nearly 145,000 ETH in total. This pushed the whale’s ETH holdings to approximately 886,000 tokens, valued at just over $4 billion at the time. Analysts see this as a strategic diversification, reflecting growing regulatory clarity around ETH and stronger institutional interest via Ethereum ETFs.
Just prior to this, Bitcoin fell sharply after another whale dumped 24,000 BTC in minutes, triggering a cascade of forced liquidations across the crypto markets. This abrupt sell-off erased nearly all the gains made after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish tone at Jackson Hole, which had initially driven BTC above $114,000. Prices plunged from highs near $117,000 down below $111,000 before settling back around $112,800 amid continued volatility.
This divergence, Bitcoin under pressure while Ethereum benefits from capital rotation, may signal a turning point. Bitcoin ETFs posted outflows of around $751 million in August, while Ethereum ETFs saw inflows of nearly $3.9 billion, underscoring the shift in institutional sentiment . Meanwhile, analysts caution that options markets remain cautious: negative risk reversals and ongoing hedging suggest expectations of further volatility ahead.
As Ethereum holdings and ETF demand grow, structural tailwinds appear to favor ETH over BTC in this phase of the cycle. That said, Bitcoin remains sensitive to whale flows and macroeconomic signals, especially anything tied to Fed policy. The market may be entering a new era where institutional flows and token-level fundamentals gain precedence over speculative momentum.
