ETH moves first: whales buy $900M while retail rushes to sell

ETH moves first: whales buy $900M while retail rushes to sell

As the end of July 2025 approaches, the crypto market presents yet another interesting contrast.

On the one hand, retail investors appear to be flocking to dump assets. On the other hand, whale wallets are acting in the opposite direction, accumulating over $900 million worth of ETH in just one day.

According to Amr Taha, a well-respected on-chain analyst at CryptoQuant, the surge in BTC transfers from short-term investors to Binance skyrocketed from around 10,000 to over 36,000 BTC.

He believes this behavior typically indicates a strong desire among retail traders to quickly realize profits. Especially when prices are at their peak, many appear to be choosing to play it safe.

Whales accumulate ETH, retail investors panic-sell

Meanwhile, whales don’t appear to be panicking. On the contrary, data shows that on July 31, large wallets moved $900 million worth of ETH from exchanges to cold wallets.

Typically, such movements indicate long-term holding intentions. It could be said that these big players are actually taking advantage of the “discount” created by retail itself.

eth whale screener
ETH whale screener | source CryptoQuant

Furthermore, derivatives market data supports this story. According to CoinGlass, daily trading volume increased by 3.76% to $109.08 billion. Ethereum options also saw a surge in volume, increasing by 8.03% to $1.63 billion.

Interestingly, open interest actually decreased slightly, by 1.59%, to $54.52 billion. What does this mean? Many positions were closed, likely by those satisfied with small profits or discouraged by the volatility.

ETH open interest
ETH open interest | source CoinGlass

On Binance, the long/short ratio for ETH/USDT is now at 1.8596. This means that there are far more long accounts than short ones. This could be interpreted as a sign of market optimism towards ETH. But still, if retail is selling and whales are buying, who is the one making the wrong move?

What makes this even more interesting is that this occurred shortly after the Federal Reserve announced that it would maintain interest rates. Although the decision was predicted, its effects on the market were palpable. Institutional investors began to show interest again, while small investors, perhaps borne of past trauma, preferred to stay out rather than follow the trend.