As the bear market continues to tighten its grip, Ethereum has witnessed a decline in price mirroring the downward trajectory of Bitcoin. 

This downturn has instilled apprehension among investors, resulting in a surge in selling activity surrounding this digital asset. Nonetheless, as retail takes fright, Ethereum whales are now taking advantage of the prevailing bearish sentiment, as they have commenced purchasing substantial quantities of ETH at current discounted prices.

Late Tuesday, Ethereum whales made a substantial move by purchasing approximately 260,000 Ether (ETH) in just 24 hours. Ali Martinez, a prominent cryptocurrency analyst, revealed this significant acquisition, amounting to nearly $425 million, on Twitter. The pundit shared a compelling chart from Santiment, showcasing the remarkable influx of capital into Ethereum despite prevailing market conditions.

This development unfolds against the backdrop of crypto prices remaining under pressure recently. Many have attributed Ether’s weakness to dumping by big investors over the past four months, as well as prevailing regulatory challenges facing the crypto industry, particularly in the U.S.

Recently, Brian Quinlivan, Santiment’s marketing director, noted that large Ethereum (ETH) holders had exhibited bearish behaviour since around April, contrasting with their bullish stance observed in late 2022.

“There has been about a 4-month long dump in supply from addresses holding between 10 and 10,000 ETH. They really were accumulating significantly at the end of last year, but profit taking from these key tiers happened hard and quickly right as the price was hitting around a 1-year high of approximately $2,120.” Quinlivan wrote.

Just yesterday, Santiment highlighted two whales who sent 300,000 Ether to Coinbase, raising fears of an imminent dump among traders.

On the other hand, an analyst known by the pseudonym “greatest trader” from Cryptoquant linked Ether’s continued weakness to future traders who have been actively selling.

In a post earlier this week, the analyst noted Ethereum’s ongoing bearish trend, illustrated by a declining 30-day moving average of the taker buy-sell ratio, signals dominant bearish sentiment among futures traders. In reading this metric, values above one signify bullish sentiment, while values below one indicate bearish sentiment.

The pundit shared a chart which depicts the continuous decline in the taker buy-sell ratio over the past few months, consistently remaining below the pivotal one mark and reaching a yearly low.

“This consistent behavior underscores the dominant bearish sentiment among futures traders participating in Ethereum’s market.” He wrote.

The analyst noted that for Ethereum’s price to embark on a new bullish trajectory, it would require a shift in behaviour among futures traders, characterized by a more aggressive buying stance, as indicated by a metric rising above the critical one threshold.

Ether was trading at $1,636 at press time, barely up a percentage point over the past 24 hours.