Whales Are Leaning Into Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA): Retail Is Lagging Behind

Whales are increasingly favoring long positions over retail traders in Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA), Alphractal found after gauging the Whale vs Retail Delta, a metric that measures net leveraged positioning between large and small investors.

A positive delta indicates that whales are aggressively buying and leaning into longs, while a negative delta typically reflects distribution, with whales reducing longs or opening shorts even as retail continues buying.

Whale Confidence Amid Market Turnaround

The latest observation by the analytics firm comes amidst a broader market rebound. Ethereum, for one, has shown a notable recovery after briefly dipping below $2,750 last week. The altcoin gained over 4% in the past 24 hours, bringing its price to $3,026. Despite this uptick, ETH remains down 26.37% over the past month as ongoing volatility continues to weigh on the market.

Ethereum’s recovery appears to be heavily influenced by aggressive accumulation from large investors as the altcoin navigates the current “sensitive” phase. New analysis shows that wallets holding between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH now collectively own more than 21 million ETH – a record level not seen since the network’s inception.

Beyond this, holders with over 100,000 ETH have also expanded their positions, which pushed their total balance to roughly 4.3 million ETH, in what appears to be a growing conviction among institutional-scale investors and high-liquidity participants. This accumulation coincided with a trend of shrinking exchange supply, as Binance reserves dropped to approximately 3.764 million ETH in November.

The data indicates a migration of ETH into staking contracts or offline storage. Adding to the momentum, Arkham also found a Hyperliquid “OG Whale,” previously known for profiting nearly $200 million from shorts, who has now invested $10 million into existing ETH longs. The total position has now increased to $44.5 million.

Meanwhile, crypto analyst Ali Martinez identified potential accumulation zones of $2,250, $1,550, and $1,080 as important support levels. According to Martinez, these price points may serve as strategic entry areas for investors looking to position ahead of the much-anticipated ETH rally.

ADA Bounces Back After Mishap

Cardano’s price also followed a similar trajectory after a short-lived decline as the blockchain suffered a chain split, after a malformed transaction activated a previously known bug from 2022. The issue was accidentally triggered by a stake pool operator (SPO) following AI-generated guidance, which caused certain nodes to follow different chains. The resulting divergence created two parallel versions of the blockchain, prompting urgent action. A rapid patch deployment ultimately restored network stability.

ADA stabilized shortly thereafter. On Thursday, it rose 4%, trading at $0.431 at the time of reporting. Despite this short-term rebound, the crypto remains significantly down over the past month, having lost more than 35% of its value during the same period.

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