- Despite recent whale activity and a surge in interest around DeFi, altcoins such as Ethereum, Uniswap, and Aave have experienced price dips.
- However, analysts anticipate a potential market rebound driven by continued whale accumulation.
Crypto whales are ramping up their positions in Ethereum (ETH) and several decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, including Uniswap (UNI). A series of large transactions, observed over the weekend, reflect an accumulation spree by unidentified whale wallets. This surge underses rising interest in DeFi assets, according to on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain.
Whales Scooping Up Ethereum, Uniswap & Other Crypto
According to Lookonchain data, one anonymous whale withdrew 299,133 UNI, valued at approximately $2.39 million, from the crypto exchange Gate.io over the past weekend. This large movement signals increasing confidence in UNI, the governance token of the decentralized exchange Uniswap. Currently, UNI is ranked 22nd by market capitalization. Also, the whale action follows the launch of Layer-2 Unichain by Uniswap last week, as per the CNF report.
This whale has also been active with other DeFi tokens. Between August 13 and September 12, the same wallet pulled out 19,373 Aave (AAVE) from Binance, a purchase worth $2.95 million. Additionally, the whale withdrew 596 Maker (MKR), a transaction valued at $805,000, from Binance during the same time frame.
In another episode, a whale wallet associated with Longling Capital recently purchased 5,000 ETH, valued at $12.34 million, over the weekend. This brings the total holdings of the wallet to 68,064 ETH, currently worth over $168 million. Moreover, it signals a continued bullish stance on Ethereum price action. On the other hand, Ethereum ICO whales have been dumping their holdings and moving capital to other altcoins, reported CNF.
A third whale has also made significant moves with Aave, acquiring 31,173 AAVE tokens worth $4.8 million on Sunday. Subsequently, the whale subsequently utilized Aave’s platform to borrow funds, swapping the borrowed 2.7 million GHO stablecoins for USDC. The Aave platform has been in demand recently as Donald Trump’s DeFi project World Liberty Financial has proposed the Aave integration to implement its governance strategy, reported CNF.
This USDC stash was then transferred to Coinbase to purchase more Aave tokens. It spotlights a unique strategy of leveraging DeFi protocols to further accumulate assets.
Altcoins Continue to Struggle
The recent whale activity coincided with positive price movements for the above-mentioned altcoins. However, the momentum slowed down thereafter with a sluggish price action. Ethereum, the largest altcoin by market cap, traded at $2,608.72 at press time, reflecting a 0.10% dip in the past 24 hours.
Likewise, Uniswap’s UNI token is showing a significant drop. It is currently trading at $7.77, reflecting a 2.39% dip within the past day. Aave, ranked 44th by market valuation, is also riding this wave of slump. As of writing, the AAVE price stood at $156.03, marking a 2.93% decline over the same period.
Nevertheless, owing to the continuous whale accumulations, analysts expect a bounce back. Furthermore, Ethereum price has maintained resilience despite market volatility. This could boost the crypto community’s morale towards the DeFi ecosystem despite the latest dip.
