ShapeShift founder denies $260mln whale accumulation – Here’s what we know!

Recent on-chain data suggests that large investors are quietly building strong positions in Ethereum.

Over the past two weeks, a major whale, reportedly linked to Erik Voorhees, Founder of ShapeShift, has deployed nearly $260 million in USDT to accumulate more than 120,000 ETH.

This buying pattern points to a steady accumulation strategy rather than a one-time trade. For instance, in the latest transaction, the whale spent $4.29 million to purchase ETH at $2,134.

Source: Lookonchain/X Overall, the average buying price stands at around $2,162, which now acts as a key support level for the market.

Such moves signal strong confidence that Ethereum may be nearing its bottom, with expectations of potential upside in the coming months.

Notably, this accumulation is happening even as ETH trades at $2,071.67, down over 3% in the last 24 hours. This paints a clear divergence between short-term price action and long-term investor sentiment.

Retail vs whale behavior

To understand this better, let’s analyse the Spot Retail Activity by CryptoQuant.

Historically, smaller investors tend to buy when prices are already high, driven by FOMO. This happened in past cycles like 2018, 2021, and even 2024.

Source: CryptoQuantRight now, retail activity is relatively low, which is actually a good sign. It means the market is in a quieter phase where large investors are accumulating, while the public is still on the sidelines.

Interestingly, while this whale has been aggressively buying Ethereum [ETH], ETFs have been seeing money flow out, which may seem negative at first.

Source: Farside InvestorsHowever, a closer look reveals that large whales are steadily increasing their holdings, while mid-sized investors seem to be selling or redistributing.

Meanwhile, retail investors remain inconsistent, often buying at higher levels and selling during dips.

Source: SantimentOverall, this indicates that Ethereum is gradually moving from weaker hands to stronger, long-term holders, which is typically a bullish sign for the market.

Voorhees’ past whale move and a crazy plot twist

For those unaware, this whale activity began on the 16th of March and intensified on the 20th of March, when the Voorhees-linked whale made another major move.

Source: Lookonchain/XHowever, the narrative took a sharp turn when Voorhees publicly denied any involvement and said,

I did not buy any eth and those tracking sites are a scam.

Now, this throws darts at two opposite possibilities. In the first case, it could be a different investor with similar wallet activity, or simply a misidentification by tracking platforms.

However, another possibility is stealth accumulation, where large investors buy quietly to avoid moving the market.

Whatever the possibilities may be, such whale movements do impact how investors perceive and feel about the token’s future.

Final Summary

• Price weakness is being used as an opportunity by large players, not a warning sign.
• ETF outflows may look bearish, but on-chain data shows whales are steadily increasing holdings.