- Whale opened an ETH long position worth $295 million with up to 10x leverage.
- ETH ETFs attracted a year’s worth of inflows in just six weeks.
- Institutional ETH holdings surged from $6 billion to $17 billion in one month.
An old Bitcoin (BTC) whale has shifted millions into Ethereum (ETH), marking one of the largest portfolio reallocations observed this quarter.
On-chain data shows the whale deposited $76 million worth of BTC to Hyperliquid, sold it, and then opened leveraged long positions in ETH across several wallets.
The move comes as Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin in returns and institutional inflows, a trend some analysts have called the start of an “Ethereum season.”
This repositioning also coincides with a surge in ETH exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows and rising treasury allocations to altcoins.
Whale reallocates holdings into Ethereum
According to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain, the whale originally acquired 14,837 BTC seven years ago from HTX and Binance at an average cost of $7,242 per coin.
That purchase, valued at $107.5 million at the time, has since appreciated to more than $1.6 billion.
Recent transactions show the whale deposited 670.1 BTC, roughly $76 million, into the decentralized trading platform Hyperliquid.
After selling the BTC, the whale opened long positions totaling 68,130 ETH (around $295 million) across four wallets.
Most of the trades were executed with leverage up to 10x, amplifying both potential gains and losses.
Latest HypurrScan data reveals that all of the whale’s wallets are now showing unrealized losses totaling about $1.8 million.
Despite the short-term drawdown, the large-scale reallocation underscores a clear shift toward ETH during a period when its performance has outpaced BTC.
Market data from Coinglass indicates ETH has delivered a 71.91% return so far in the third quarter, compared with just 6.28% for BTC.
Ethereum’s gains have prompted analysts to label the current environment an “Ethereum season,” where capital flows increasingly favor ETH over Bitcoin.
That momentum is visible in market activity: Ethereum has consistently outperformed Bitcoin in daily returns since the start of the quarter.
Institutional shift fuels Ethereum demand
Institutional interest in Ethereum has surged. Corporate purchases of Bitcoin for treasury reserves have slowed, with only 2.8 companies per day adding BTC to their holdings. In contrast, ETH has seen steady inflows.
The Strategic ETH Reserve reports that institutional ETH holdings rose from $6 billion to $17 billion within a month, an increase of 183%.
This accumulation signals growing confidence in Ethereum’s market trajectory and its role in the broader crypto cycle.
The whale’s leveraged entries into ETH align with this broader trend, showing individual strategies converging with institutional allocations toward Ethereum as the leading asset in the altcoin phase of the cycle.
“Ethereum season” points to the next altcoin cycle phase
Ethereum’s surge is widely seen as part of a broader “altseason” cycle. In this framework, capital typically flows into Bitcoin first, then into Ethereum, and finally disperses into smaller altcoins before the cycle peaks.
With ETH already outperforming BTC through Q2 and Q3 and institutional investment accelerating, analysts suggest the market may now be entering the second phase of the altcoin cycle.
The whale’s decision to convert part of its BTC holdings into ETH reflects this trend, with the $76 million trade highlighting how long-term holders are adapting to changing market dynamics.