The Rise and Fall of a Major Ethereum Whale
A significant event in the cryptocurrency market has recently unfolded, involving a major Ethereum (ETH) whale known as Hyperunit. This whale, who previously held a substantial amount of Bitcoin (BTC), made a strategic shift by swapping his BTC for ETH in August 2025. The move has had a noticeable impact on the price of Ethereum, which has since experienced a decline.
Over the weekend, this whale sold more than $500 million worth of ETH. According to Arkham Intelligence, the whale transferred three large tranches of ETH to Binance deposits early Sunday morning. These transfers were made in batches of 69,000 ETH, 96,000 ETH, and 95,000 ETH, totaling more than $500 million at the time of the transactions.
Following the sale, Ethereum’s price fell from the $2,000 level, continuing a downward trend that has affected altcoins for the past two weeks. This drop is attributed to the whale’s activity, highlighting the influence that large holders can have on market dynamics.
A Long-Term Bitcoin Accumulator
The Hyperunit whale is believed to be a long-time Bitcoin holder of Chinese origin. According to Arkham Intelligence’s analysis, the whale accumulated over 100,000 BTC during early 2018, valued near $650 million at the time. The investor followed a straightforward strategy of acquiring Bitcoin and holding it for the long term. More than 90% of those coins remained untouched for seven years, with the whale controlling Bitcoin valued at approximately $11.14 billion at its peak.
In a dramatic shift, the investor changed his focus on August 14, 2025, when he sent 39,738 BTC, worth about $4.49 billion at the time, to Hyperunit-linked wallets. This move marked the beginning of an asset rotation into ether. The whale ultimately amassed around 886,371 ETH, valued at over $4 billion at the time, making it one of the largest known BTC-to-ETH reallocations recorded on-chain.
Arkham’s portfolio tracking shows that the investor’s total holdings dropped from $11.14 billion in August to about $3.13 billion by February 16, 2026, a net decline of nearly $8 billion.
Current Losses and Market Volatility
The whale is currently sitting on losses of $3.7 billion from its leveraged Ethereum exposure, alongside spot BTC and ETH positions. Additionally, the investor has suffered another $1.2 billion loss from staked ETH positions.
Ethereum’s price has tumbled 4% amid heavy whale activity. At the time of this publication, Ethereum was changing hands at $1,985, down more than 4% from its day-to-day highs, but 0.5% higher on an hourly basis. During the start of Monday’s Asian market trading session, ETH had slipped to around $1,958.
Over the past week, ETH has fluctuated between $1,907 and $2,129, failing to sustain a recovery or establish a clear move above $2,000. The second-largest coin is 60% below its August 24 all-time high of $4,946, just 10 days after the Hyperunit whale swapped his BTC for the coin.
Market Analysis and Investor Behavior
According to CryptoQuant’s ETH accumulation chart, $24.6 billion worth of Ethereum changed hands in the last 24 hours. Addresses holding between 100,000 and 1 million ETH sold approximately 1.3 million ETH between February 9 and February 12, transactions valued at $2.7 billion. However, the same cohort repurchased about 1.25 million ETH within the last 48 hours, hoping the current price level is the chart bottom.
Despite the selling being more moderate, it shows how uncertain investors are now, despite their strong conviction during downturns in previous cycles. Moreover, Binance recorded daily trading volume near 486,000 ETH while prices hovered around $2,050. The exchange’s deviations from average trading activity registered an index of around -0.39, falling short of the 30-day moving average.
Historically, such conditions occur when traders rebalance portfolios after weeks of price corrections and consolidations. Ethereum’s decline from previous highs has not been accompanied by a sustained surge in trading volume.
According to market analyst Arab Chain, falling prices without volume expansion are evidence of a gradual shift in distribution from profit takers to bullish investors. “The market may be in a quiet consolidation phase, or at least in the process of absorbing the previous move,” the chartist explained.
Moreover, ETH whales are keeping loss positions comparable to levels seen during the 2021-2022 market cycle, but they have continued buying the dip, reported on Sunday.