Ethereum is back above $1,650 after last week’s sharp selloff. That rebound offers some relief, but Arkham Intelligence data points to something messier than a random market scare.
The desk pulled up the on-chain history of a single wallet Arkham identifies as belonging to an “Ethereum OG”, a long-term holder with activity going back to the asset’s early days. The wallet’s sequence, in Arkham’s view, makes the crash look less like a surprise and more like a premeditated risk reduction.
Wallet timing: $188M cut before the breakdown
Before the market broke down, the wallet reduced exposure across three assets.
According to Arkham Intelligence, it sold:
- 60,000 ETH for about $117.25 million at an average price of $2,040
- 9,442 wstETH for about $24 million at an average price of $2,040
- 600 WBTC for about $47.12 million at an average price of $78,538
Arkham frames those exits as a precisely timed large-scale reduction visible on-chain. The combined exit totals roughly $188 million across ETH, wstETH, and WBTC, all executed at prices that later looked “prescient” versus where ETH and BTC traded after the crash.
What matters for readers is not that a whale traded. It’s the timing. Arkham emphasizes the wallet did not reduce risk after the crash. It reduced it before.
The rebuild: repurchased at crash prices
Arkham Intelligence also maps the second half of the strategy. After the drop, the wallet rebuilt the full position at the prices the crash delivered.
On the WBTC side, Arkham reports the wallet repurchased 611 WBTC at an average price of $63,280, versus the $78,538 average sell price.
On the Ethereum side, Arkham reports the wallet repurchased:
- 60,088 ETH
- 10,000 wstETH
at an average price of $1,606. That compares to the $2,040 average at which the ETH and wstETH portion was liquidated.
Arkham’s math, quoted in the report:
- Bitcoin leg spread: roughly $9,300 per coin across 611 tokens, about $5.7 million in realized spread
- Ethereum leg spread: $434 difference per ETH across roughly 70,000 tokens, about $30 million in additional value captured
Arkham describes the full “sell the top, wait through the crash, buy the bottom” round trip as executing across three assets simultaneously for nearly $160 million in repurchased exposure.
Where ETH sits now: rebound meets bearish structure
Even with the headline rebound back toward $1,650, the same NewsBTC report stresses that Ethereum remains under heavy pressure.
It says ETH lost the critical $1,800 support area and slid toward the $1,500–$1,600 zone. The report also points to bearish market structure on the daily chart. It claims ETH is trading below the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages, with those averages “continuing to slope downward,” which it frames as momentum favoring sellers.
The most cited technical level in the report is the breakdown below a February demand zone around $1,800–$1,900. NewsBTC says that region acted as a demand base for nearly four months and repeatedly absorbed selling pressure during March, April, and May. Once that zone failed, it concludes buyers lost control of one of the key supports of the current cycle.
For bulls, NewsBTC’s framing is straightforward. The first test is getting back through $1,800, which it now labels overhead resistance after the breakdown. Until ETH reclaims that zone and stays above the major moving averages, the report characterizes rallies as relief bounces rather than trend reversals.
Key on-chain figures from Arkham Intelligence
| Asset | Sold amount | Avg sell price | Sold value | Repurchased amount | Avg repurchase price | Reported spread/value impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETH | 60,000 | $2,040 | ~$117.25M | 60,088 | $1,606 | ~$30M additional value captured on the ETH leg per NewsBTC’s Arkham math |
| wstETH | 9,442 | $2,040 | ~$24M | 10,000 | $1,606 | Included in the combined ETH-side round trip per NewsBTC |
| WBTC | 600 | $78,538 | ~$47.12M | 611 | $63,280 | ~$5.7M realized spread on the Bitcoin leg per NewsBTC |
| Total | — | — | ~$188M | — | — | Nearly $160M in repurchased exposure per NewsBTC |
The takeaway the price chart can’t ignore
Arkham Intelligence’s wallet record doesn’t prove markets are “predictable.” But it does show how uneven participation can look in real time. NewsBTC’s point is that one sophisticated holder cut risk before the drop and added back after it, capturing meaningful spread across ETH, wstETH, and WBTC.
Meanwhile, the broader tape in NewsBTC’s report stays bearish. ETH may have bounced above $1,650, but it still sits below key moving averages and under the former $1,800–$1,900 support zone.
That combination matters. A short-term rebound can happen while the trend still works against new buyers. In this case, Arkham’s on-chain sequence reads like planning, while the chart still reads like recovery without reversal.