ETH pullback exposes retail panic vs. institutional hoarding

After Ethereum (ETH) came within touching distance of its $4,878 all-time high last week before pulling back to around $4,448, on-chain flows reveal a stark divide in behavior. It suggests that retail is panicking, while institutions are quietly hoarding.

Bitcoin and Ether both cooled off after last week’s highs. BTC price dropped around 5% from its fresh ATH of above $124,400 to the $117,000 zone. This moved the cumulative crypto market to print red indexes on Saturday morning and to drag below the $4 trillion cap. Its 24-hour trading volume is down by 32% to stand at $180 billion.

ICO whale cashes out

On-chain data shows that behind the red candles, whales are moving differently. One ICO participant who spent just $104 back in 2015 finally moved his 334.7 ETH (approx. worth $1.48 million today) after nearly a decade of dormancy. That’s 14,200 times the return.

But while early investors cash out, firms like Bitmine are doubling down. The company scooped up another 106,485 ETH (approx. worth $470 million) over the last 24 hours. That haul pushes its treasury to 1.29 million ETH, valued at nearly $5.8 billion. Another undisclosed institutional buyer has also been aggressively accumulating, pulling 92,899 ETH (approx. worth $412 million) from Kraken in just four days across newly created wallets. 

At the same time, some large private funds are using dips to adjust positions. A wallet linked to Longling Capital sold 7,000 ETH worth $31.8 million during the pullback but still holds $352 million worth of Ether. This reshuffling highlights that while sentiment indicators like Santiment’s greed index suggest retail exuberance peaked with Bitcoin’s ATH, institutions are treating ETH’s dip as an entry point.

Hackers cash in on Ethereum’s run

The rally has also turned into an unexpected windfall for hackers. The Radiant Capital exploiter, allegedly linked to North Korea, sold nearly $44 million in ETH this week. This boosted their stolen funds to over $100 million, almost double the value of the original haul. The attacker drained $53 million last October and has since flipped part of the loot into stablecoins, pocketing more than $48 million in profit.

Similarly, attackers from the Infini and THORChain exploits capitalized on ETH’s surge. The Infini hacker stole around $49.5 million in USDC in February and bought 17,696 ETH at a price of $2,798. Since July, in addition to laundering 5,000 ETH through Tornado, the hacker has sold 3,540 ETH for 13.318 million DAI at an average price of $3,762.  

Ethereum price recorded a pullback after a brief rally. It dropped by 5% over the last 24 hours, but it still remained up by 29% over the past 30 days. ETH is trading at an average price of $4,455 at the press time. Its market cap hovers above $537 billion.

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