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Key Insights:
- Ethereum price remains under strong selling pressure as subdued open interest (OI) shows trader sentiment is waning.
- Ethereum whales who bought ETH during the genesis event deposited 5,000 ETH ($12.1M) to Kraken after months of inactivity.
- Despite whale sell-offs, Ethereum ETFs continue attracting capital, with net inflows of $40.7M on July 1.
Ethereum price is under selling pressure, dropping 1.2% in the last 24 hours to $2,436. The recent price oscillation between $2400-$2500 has confused investors.
However, on-chain data flashes a bearish divergence between the spot and the future trades. On the other hand, the recent sell-off from ICO-era ETH whales has further dampened the market sentiment.
Spot Ethereum Price Shows Major Divergence With Derivative Trades
Crypto market analysts point out that since June 26, the spot ETH price has managed to push higher. It has received three local peaks above $2,500.
However, while the spot price reflects strength, data from Binance shows a declining open interest (OI) for ETH futures. It fell below the $5.6 Billion mark.
The divergence shows that while the Ethereum price is climbing, fewer derivatives traders are committing capital to support the rally.
This highlights a sign of reduced conviction among the leveraged traders. As a result, investors are undertaking a cautious approach before putting fresh capital into Ethereum.
Ethereum price stumbles as early ICO whales capitalize on historic gains
ICO-era Ethereum whales who purchased ETH during the Genesis event in 2015 have been offloading their holdings. This trend has been reported over the past few weeks.
An early ICO investor offloaded another 501 ETH, a few hours back, as per data from Etherscan. This whale initially acquired 16,000 ETH during Ethereum’s 2015 Genesis sale. He bought them at just $4,960, or roughly $0.31 per token.
LookonChain reports that one ETH whale has sold 14,394 ETH since 2021, totaling $50.11 Million. The average sale price per ETH was $3,482 over this period. SpotonChain also tracked activity from another dormant ICO-era whale.
After four months, this whale deposited 5,000 ETH, worth $12.1 Million, into Kraken at an average of $2,424 per ETH. Need it trimmed for a news headline or formatted for socials? Just say the word.
The whale originally received 107,000 ETH in 2016 for just $1.39 Million, at an Ethereum price of $13. Previously, on February 14, the exact address offloaded 6,671 ETH for around $18.1 Million, at $2,710 Ethereum price.
Ethereum ETF Inflows and Institutional Buying Remains Strong
On the other hand, inflows into spot Ethereum ETFs continue to remain strong. On Tuesday, July 1, the net inflows across all US ETF issuers stood at $40.7 Million. Also, BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) dominated the flows at $54.8 Million.
However, Fidelity’s FETH saw net outflows at $24.1 Million, while Grayscale’s ETHE saw inflows at $10 million yesterday. During the second quarter of 2025, BlackRock’s ETHA dominated the inflows at $3.85 Billion, as reported earlier.
Despite this, the ETHA share price has traded at 30.57% since the beginning of 2025. Ethereum ETFs are absorbing most of the sell-off coming from ICO-era ETH whales.
On the other hand, Sharplink Gaming has continued expanding its Ethereum holdings to build the ETH treasury.
On July 1, the firm boosted its Ethereum holdings by purchasing 4,951 ETH through an OTC deal. The transaction was valued at around $12.4 Million, reflecting continued confidence in ETH.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and provides no financial, investment, or other advice. The author or any people mentioned in this article are not responsible for any financial loss that may occur from investing in or trading. Please do your research before making any financial decisions.
