The crypto market is stirring again. According to Coingecko's price quote on the 10th, the latest price of Ether (ETH) is $4322, once again firmly above $4300. The driving force comes from a series of actions by on-chain whales and listed companies, quietly rewriting the structure of market liquidity.
On-chain whales: $210 million buying spree kicks off
The on-chain monitoring platform Onchain Lens recorded that a whale increased its holdings by 49,533 ETH through institutional accounts such as Galaxy Digital and FalconX, with a market value of approximately $210 million, raising the total holdings to 221,166 ETH, equivalent to nearly $1 billion. More importantly, this is not an isolated case. The platform pointed out that institutions collectively bought over 100,000 ETH at the beginning of August, amounting to approximately $361 million, indicating that institutional buying is replacing retail speculation, forming sustained buying pressure.
SharpLink: Treat ETH as treasury stock for staking and locking
On another front, the actions of the betting technology company SharpLink (SBET) are more strategically significant. The company completed a $200 million capital increase on August 7, and according to Yujin Monitoring, it is suspected to have exchanged for 52,809 ETH (approximately $220 million) today, all of which has been staked. Currently, SharpLink holds 621,000 ETH, with a market value of approximately $2.65 billion, and an average holding price of $3,226. Large-scale staking not only generates additional income for the company but also locks in circulating chips, directly reducing market selling pressure and becoming the 'support beam' for ETH prices.
ETF entry and rebalancing: Supply shock intensifies
Although Galaxy Digital reduced its holdings of ETH in its own account during the second quarter, from 155,000 to 90,500, and increased its position in Bitcoin by 4,272, reflecting a rebalancing of asset allocation. However, these chips were quickly absorbed by other institutions. The large transactions facilitated by liquidity provider FalconX made the large turnover process nearly price-neutral. Notably, the spot ETH ETF has recently attracted over $2 billion in a single week, continuing to amplify the 'supply shock.'
Looking at the above capital flow, Ethereum has surpassed the 4300 level. Whales are buying up to reduce market selling pressure, and SharpLink's locked positions have established a new paradigm for corporate treasuries. ETFs are converting fragmented demand into stable spot absorption channels. These forces together are pushing ETH from a 'speculative target' to a 'strategic asset.'
If institutional allocation ratios continue to expand in the future, coupled with the deepening of blockchain application scenarios, ETH has the opportunity to challenge higher target prices. However, investors still need to pay attention to the macro interest rate environment and the pace of institutional rebalancing, as a similar scale of unwinding could also lead to an instant pullback. Understanding the sources of funds and the structure of locked positions will be key to evaluating the next steps for ETH.
