ETH whale is preparing to stop buying—but how far is that from starting to sell?
A company holding a lot of ETH doesn’t mean it will keep buying next week. This is an easy shift to overlook when looking at institutional holdings.
CoinDesk reported on October 7 that Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee said the company would stop accumulating once its holdings reached 5% of ETH’s circulating supply. This refers to its buying plans after reaching that target. It shouldn’t be rewritten as “it has stopped buying today,” let alone as an announcement that it will liquidate its holdings.
Suppose a buyer used to purchase 10,000 coins a week, then stopped buying altogether: it could leave its existing holdings completely untouched, while the market would lose a source of ongoing demand. This example only explains the difference between stock and flow; it is not a figure for Bitmine’s actual purchases.
What I’m watching is who will take the coins that were previously sold to it. Whether other companies, funds, or individuals can make up the difference requires new evidence of buying. Existing holdings shouldn’t be repeatedly treated as future demand.
But stopping purchases doesn’t create additional selling pressure either. Jumping straight from “one fewer buyer” to “prices must fall” also overlooks sellers’ supply and other sources of demand.
When comparing institutional allocations to BTC, ETH, and SOL, I track how much they hold, how much they’ve bought recently, and when the conditions for buying will end separately. A whale’s name remaining on the rankings doesn’t guarantee it will keep supporting the price.
The accompanying image is an actual photo of an ETH commemorative coin.
$BTC $ETH $SOL
Tap my profile picture to view my live trading account.
A company holding a lot of ETH doesn’t mean it will keep buying next week. This is an easy shift to overlook when looking at institutional holdings.
CoinDesk reported on October 7 that Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee said the company would stop accumulating once its holdings reached 5% of ETH’s circulating supply. This refers to its buying plans after reaching that target. It shouldn’t be rewritten as “it has stopped buying today,” let alone as an announcement that it will liquidate its holdings.
Suppose a buyer used to purchase 10,000 coins a week, then stopped buying altogether: it could leave its existing holdings completely untouched, while the market would lose a source of ongoing demand. This example only explains the difference between stock and flow; it is not a figure for Bitmine’s actual purchases.
What I’m watching is who will take the coins that were previously sold to it. Whether other companies, funds, or individuals can make up the difference requires new evidence of buying. Existing holdings shouldn’t be repeatedly treated as future demand.
But stopping purchases doesn’t create additional selling pressure either. Jumping straight from “one fewer buyer” to “prices must fall” also overlooks sellers’ supply and other sources of demand.
When comparing institutional allocations to BTC, ETH, and SOL, I track how much they hold, how much they’ve bought recently, and when the conditions for buying will end separately. A whale’s name remaining on the rankings doesn’t guarantee it will keep supporting the price.
The accompanying image is an actual photo of an ETH commemorative coin.
$BTC $ETH $SOL
Tap my profile picture to view my live trading account.