Early Ethereum whale sells $136M in ETH as price stalls near $2,000
Glassnode cohort data shows short-term holder supply shrinking since May 19 while the 5y–7y cohort share edged higher.
An early Ethereum investor sold 64,442 ETH worth about $136 million over the past week at an average price of $2,041, adding a discrete supply event into a market already leaning heavy around $2,000. On-chain cohort data shows short-term holders reducing supply share sharply since May 19, while older cohorts have generally increased over the past year.
Key Takeaways
- A long-dormant Ethereum whale sold 55,000 ETH and 9,442 ETH over the past week, totaling about $136 million at an average of $2,041 per ETH, per Lookonchain.
- ETH traded around $1,980 at the time of writing, down 2% in 24 hours and 6.5% on the week, after chopping around the $2,000 psychological level since Thursday.
- Glassnode HODL waves showed the 3m–6m cohort’s supply share falling to 9% from 13.5% on May 19, while the 1w–1m cohort dropped to 2.6% from 4.76%.
- The 5y–7y cohort’s supply share rose to 9% from 8.59% on May 19, and older cohorts’ share has generally increased over the past year.
$136M Whale Sale Lands as ETH Grinds Around $2,000
A single early Ethereum wallet became the headline flow as it sold 55,000 ETH (about $112.25 million) and 9,442 ETH (about $24 million) over the past week. The combined 64,442 ETH was sold at an average price of $2,041 per ETH, according to Lookonchain.
The timing matters because ETH has been trading like a market searching for a floor rather than building a base. ETH/USD oscillated around the $2,000 psychological level since Thursday and was around $1,980 at the time of writing, down 2% over 24 hours and 6.5% on the week.
For traders, the key distinction is scale versus breadth. This is a large, discrete supply event. It is not, by itself, proof of a wider unwind across long-term holders.
HODL Waves Snapshot: Short-Term Cohorts Shrink While 5y–7y Ticks Up
Glassnode’s “HODL waves” break ETH supply into cohorts based on how long coins have been held unmoved on-chain. In this snapshot, the sharpest moves sit in the short-duration buckets, not the oldest ones.
Since May 19, the 3m–6m cohort’s supply share fell to 9% from 13.5%. Over the same period, the 1w–1m cohort fell to 2.6% from 4.76%, per Glassnode data cited. That pattern points to churn and de-risking among newer holders as the dominant rotation signal.
Meanwhile, the 5y–7y cohort’s supply share increased to 9% from 8.59% on May 19, and older cohorts’ share has generally increased over the past year. The narrative risk is straightforward: price weakness plus a whale headline can get framed as “OG dumping,” but the cohort breakdown here leans more toward short-term capitulation than broad long-term distribution.
$1,800 As the Line in the Sand, With $1,500 in Bear-Case Targets
With ETH already trading below $2,000, analysts have centered risk around $1,800 as the next support that must hold to avoid a deeper correction. Alex Marzell wrote on X on Sunday, “This doesn't look good for Ethereum,” adding, “Momentum continues to favor the bears as $ETH moves closer to the next key support area.”
Below that, $1,500 is the repeated bear-case reference point. Merlijn The Trader said ETH price action is “mapping perfectly onto a Wyckoff Accumulation structure,” describing ETH as in “Phase B consolidation, post-selling climax” and entering Phase C where it would bottom below $1,500. Echo Analysis also framed a bear flag breakdown that projects a move toward $1,500 support.
Wyckoff Accumulation and bear flags are scenario tools, not guarantees. But with price already weak around $2,000, those downside levels become the market’s default map if $1,800 fails.
Signals Traders Can Track in Cohorts and Price Action This Week
The first threshold is mechanical: whether ETH holds or loses the $1,800 support level highlighted by analysts.
Second is flow follow-through. The wallet identity is unknown, and the key question is whether the same whale continues selling after the reported 64,442 ETH over the past week, or whether that supply has already been absorbed.
Third is whether Glassnode cohort shares keep moving in the same direction. If short-term cohorts continue to shrink while older cohorts keep increasing, it reinforces the idea that the market is rotating risk among newer holders rather than seeing a broad exit from long-duration supply.
Finally, traders will be watching whether repeated breaks below the $2,000 psychological level start to align with the $1,500 downside projections that have been circulating in the technical framing.
Whale Headlines vs Cohort Reality at a $2K Pivot
I treat the $136 million sale as real supply, but also as a single data point that can be overfit into a clean narrative. The cohort snapshot matters because it pushes back on the easy story. Short-term buckets (3m–6m and 1w–1m) are the ones shrinking hard since May 19, while the 5y–7y cohort ticked up and older cohorts have generally increased over the past year.
The threshold that matters is $1,800. If that level holds while cohort data continues to show older supply staying sticky, this looks more like a sentiment catalyst than a fundamental shift. If $1,800 breaks and selling persists from the same whale wallet, the setup starts to look structural rather than narrative-driven, with $1,500 becoming the practical downside magnet traders will price around.
