TL;DR

Mega whales paused after adding 2M ETH, while large whales resumed buying with 400K ETH. The asset trades below $4,500 resistance as smaller whales buy, but stronger momentum may require more. BitMine and new wallets bought $349M ETH, showing strong interest despite slower ETF inflows.

Market Caught Between Two Whale Groups

Ethereum’s price is being shaped by diverging whale behavior. Wallets holding over 10,000 ETH, referred to as mega whales, played a major role in the August rally. On-chain data shows these wallets added more than 2 million ETH during that time. Their activity has now slowed, with no significant accumulation seen in recent weeks.

In contrast, wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH have resumed buying. After weeks of outflows in July, these large whales have added about 400,000 ETH over the past month. This shift has brought balance to the market, with smaller investors stepping in while the larger ones hold back.

$ETH price is now caught between two whale groups and that balance could decide the next market move.

Mega whales (10k+ ETH) drove August’s rally with more than 2M ETH added, but their buying has stopped.

Large whales (1k–10k ETH), after weeks of selling, have turned back… pic.twitter.com/tOWqX8DUj0

ETH Price Trading Below Key Resistance

The price of Ethereum was $4,420 at the time of writing. Trading volume in the last 24 hours stands at $31.6 billion. ETH is up 1% on the day but remains down 4% over the past week.

Cas Abbé noted that,

“$ETH price is now caught between two whale groups and that balance could decide the next market move.”

If smaller whales continue to buy and mega whales stay quiet, the price may hold, but upward momentum could weaken. A return of larger buyers could support another rally.

Abbé also pointed out recent whale activity across the network. BitMine Digital acquired more than 14,000 ETH, worth $62.4 million. At the same time, three new wallets purchased 65,662 ETH through FalconX, totaling $287 million.

“ETF inflows have definitely slowed down for $ETH but whales are still buying non-stop,” he shared.

Interestingly, these transactions suggest ongoing interest from large players, even as institutional inflows ease. Whether this buying will be enough to push ETH above its current resistance remains uncertain.

Key Levels to Watch

According to Lennaert Snyder, Ethereum failed to break through the $4,500 resistance. This level remains the barrier for bullish continuation. He also pointed out that long entries should be considered only after clean reversals from lower support.

$ETH rejected key $4,500 resistance as posted yesterday.

Congrats to everyone who took the short!

$4,500 remains the level to gain for bullish continuation.

Longing Ethereum at lower support after reversals only.

Remember, losing support triggers continuation shorts. pic.twitter.com/Gr3xlzJnnt

Support zones to monitor include $4,274 and $4,213. A move below these levels may trigger further downside. Additional support sits near $4,080 and in the $3,900–$3,600 area. The price action around these levels will help determine ETH’s short-term direction.