As others panic sell, is ETH preparing for an invisible rebound in the third quarter?
Ethereum whales accumulated $39 million worth of ETH after touching the critical support level of $2,116.
Is this the calm accumulation phase before the breakout in the third quarter?
Following the recent market adjustment, whale activity in Ethereum [ETH] has significantly increased. In fact, shortly after ETH touched the $2,116 support level, a large wallet accumulated 17,070 ETH, valued at about $39 million.
AMBCrypto believes that timing is insightful. While retail investors remain anxious, this 'whale' sees this 'drop' as an opportunity.
Historically, when whales intervene during panic peaks, it often marks a local bottom or at least a stage of market stabilization.
That said, is Ethereum quietly laying the groundwork for a bullish third quarter?
Panic selling meets strategic buying
As of last week, Ethereum was expected to achieve close to a 40% strong return by the end of the second quarter, maintaining solid support above $2,500 and keeping market FOMO active.
However, after a substantial 13% pullback, these gains have nearly halved. Once ETH fell below $2,500, both whales and regular traders began to take profits to lock in gains and prevent further losses.
Interestingly, as investors have moved funds on-chain, spot exchanges have seen nearly 50,000 ETH inflows. But it now appears that this liquidity is being systematically absorbed.
According to Glassnode data, the number of whale wallets holding over 1,000 ETH surged by a net increase of 63 over 30 days, up from only 39 the day before. This indicates that despite recent declines in ETH prices, large investors are still quietly accumulating more ETH.
Looking back at the cycle after April, Ethereum's price surged over 100% within two months, decisively breaking through the resistance level of $2,800.
This wave of increases is also due to a significant rise in whale wallet accumulation. In fact, there were over 100 new whale wallets created in just one day at one point.
If history repeats itself, will Ethereum see a similar price surge in the middle of the third quarter?
Ethereum's high-risk game
A brief surge in realized profits does not imply that we have entered the distribution phase. However, Ethereum's on-chain data is sending out warning signals.
Realized losses have soared to a weekly high of $311 million. More tellingly? This marks the second time in ten days that Ethereum's net realized gains and losses have turned negative.
This indicates that confidence is waning. Traders are not waiting for a rebound; they are selling at a loss just to reduce their positions. Such behavior usually occurs in later pullback phases or early capitulation stages.
This isn't the first time we've seen this. Before the rebound in April, Ethereum had dropped to around $1,440, while actual losses also surged sharply.
Before a genuine accumulation begins, massive exits help reset the market. Therefore, whales buying in here is certainly a good sign, but it's not a magic bullet.
If economic momentum and overall sentiment do not change, the bullish case for the third quarter remains a potential scenario rather than a certainty.