Ethereum (ETH) whales are showing no signs of panic despite the price sliding to around $2,000. Analyst CW reported on X that whales began full-scale accumulation in May 2025, when ETH was trading near $2,500. Now that the price has dropped further, large holders are buying even more aggressively.
Accumulation Address Inflows at an All-Time High
Accumulation addresses are used solely for holding, not trading. The flow into these wallets hit a record high in 2025, surpassing all previous years. Historical data shows that between 2018 and 2020, inflows were low and inconsistent as ETH prices languished. The trend shifted in 2023, accelerated in 2024, and continued into 2026 — regardless of market rallies or corrections. Big investors have been steadily building positions.
According to CW, “Whales don’t care about short-term price swings.” The current $2,000 level is seen as a bargain for long-term holders.
Extreme Bullish Sentiment on Major Exchanges
Trading data from CoinGlass reveals a heavily bullish bias. On Binance, the ETH/USDT long-to-short account ratio is 1.78, meaning far more accounts are betting on price increases. OKX shows a similar ratio of 1.71. Among Binance's top traders, the ratio jumps to 2.31. By position size, longs still dominate with a ratio of 1.34.
Liquidation data tells the same story. In the past hour, $6.96 million was liquidated, with $6.11 million from shorts. Over four hours, liquidations reached $9.61 million (shorts: $6.66M). Over 12 hours, $39.9 million was wiped (shorts: $24.58M). In the last 24 hours, a total of $104 million in positions were liquidated — $74.9 million came from short positions versus $29.27 million from longs.
The combination of whale accumulation and extreme long positioning suggests strong faith in Ethereum's future, though the risk of a long squeeze remains if the price fails to hold $2,000.