A major crypto whale sold $500M in Ethereum after a Bitcoin-to-ETH rotation, with losses nearing $5B from peak exposure.
- Hyperunit Whale rotated 39,738 BTC into 886,371 ETH before selling $500M in Ethereum.
- Arkham estimates total ETH-related drawdowns near $5B from peak valuations.
- Vitalik Buterin reaffirmed Ethereum’s open, permissionless network access.
A large crypto holder known as the Hyperunit Whale sold roughly $500 million in Ethereum, according to Arkham Intelligence. The activity appeared on-chain this week and followed earlier transfers involving Binance. The sales trace back to August 2025 portfolio rotations, involving Bitcoin, Ethereum, leveraged exposure, and later Binance-linked stablecoin withdrawals.
Hyperunit Whale’s Long Bitcoin Accumulation
According to Arkham Intelligence, the Hyperunit Whale accumulated over 100,000 Bitcoin during early 2018, then valued near $650 million. The wallets reportedly remained mostly untouched for nearly seven years.
At peak holdings, the addresses controlled about $11.14 billion worth of Bitcoin. In August 2025, roughly 39,738 Bitcoin moved on-chain, valued at $4.49 billion during transfer.
The funds reportedly shifted toward Ethereum exposure. The whale later accumulated about 886,371 ETH, worth over $4 billion at the time. This rotation marked a clear change in strategy.
ETH Exposure Losses and Binance-Linked Transfers
Since the Ethereum rotation, Arkham estimates show significant drawdowns across positions. The whale currently is about $3.7 billion down on leveraged ETH exposure and spot holdings. Additionally, staked ETH positions show losses near $1.2 billion. Total estimated drawdowns now approach $5 billion from peak levels.
Separately, Lookonchain reported that Garrett Jin sold 5,000 Bitcoin worth about $348.82 million. He withdrew 53.12 million USDT from Binance, likely tied to that sale. Despite the move, Jin still holds over 30,000 Bitcoin.
Vitalik Buterin on Ethereum’s Open Use
Amid these large transfers, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin addressed network neutrality in a recent X post. He said users do not need agreement with his views to use Ethereum. He emphasized open access without permission from him or the Ethereum Foundation.
Buterin stated that people can disagree on applications, trust models, or politics. However, they can still use Ethereum freely. He described this openness as the network’s core design principle.
