Ethereum Whales Switch to Bitcoin
It seems that Ethereum whales are starting to make some noteworthy moves toward Bitcoin. It’s interesting, considering these whales, often referred to as Ethereum OGs, were typically known for holding onto significant amounts of ETH.
According to data from Lookonchain, one such whale, known as “0x4553,” is in the process of converting its ETH into Bitcoin.
This particular whale acquired 21,000 ETH over the years, spending around $61.4 million with an average purchase price of about $2,922.
#Ethereum OG (0x4553) is converting its $ETH holdings to $BTC.
From 2019 to 2023, this entity bought 21,000 ETH ($61.4 million) at an average price of $2,922.
Recently, they traded 14,146 $ETH ($44.3 million) for 492 $WBTC at a ratio of 0.03479.
At the beginning of 2026, there was a noticeable shift as Ethereum whales traded a large chunk of their ETH for wrapped Bitcoin. The reports indicated that in just a few hours, whales exchanged 14,146 ETH worth approximately $44.3 million for 492 WBTC at a ratio of 0.03479.
The reasons behind this shift aren’t entirely clear, but it might be more personal than based on ETH’s performance, especially since this change happened when ETH was seeing a price increase. At the time, ETH had risen 1.84% in the last 24 hours, sitting at $3,104, and was up 5.94% for the week, actually outperforming Bitcoin in that timeframe.
This switch from ETH to BTC was notable as it marked the second occurrence in just 24 hours. On January 2, Lookonchain highlighted another whale that had lost approximately $18.8 million in ETH within two weeks and subsequently converted funds into gold, investing $14.58 million to buy 3,299 XAUT at about $4,421 each.
Interestingly enough, there are still observable inflows into Ethereum. Despite this whale-to-Bitcoin trend, there appears to be a broader accumulation of ETH underway. Lookonchain noted that a whale or institutional player recently purchased 12,166 ETH for around $38.09 million from exchanges like Coinbase, FalconX, and Cumberland.
Additionally, another whale bought 5,104 ETH at a value of $16.09 million. Since December 3, whales have collectively acquired 51,374 ETH for around $159.76 million, averaging about $3,110 per ETH.
In another development, Tom Lee’s Bitmine staked an additional 82,560 ETH, valued at about $259 million, totaling 544,064 ETH staked by this Ethereum treasury company, which amounts to around $1.62 billion.
On January 2, Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded net inflows of $174 million, with Grayscale’s ETHE seeing the largest portion of $53.69 million.
