ETH Price Tug-of-War: Hayes Dumps, SharpLink Buys
Ethereum Faces Divergent Whale Strategies
Conflicting signals emerged in the Ethereum (ETH) market as two significant whale transactions highlighted differing perspectives on its future. While macroeconomic concerns weigh on some, others see opportunity.
Two high-profile Ethereum [ETH] whales' moves have sent conflicting signals to the crypto market.
SharpLink's $100M ETH Acquisition
SharpLink Gaming has significantly increased its Ethereum holdings, capitalizing on a recent market correction to purchase over $100 million worth of ETH. This move likely aims to reduce their average purchase price and demonstrates strong confidence in Ethereum's long-term prospects.
Arthur Hayes Offloads ETH and Tokens
Conversely, Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, has taken a different approach. On-chain data indicates Hayes sold off a substantial portion of his crypto assets, including:
- 2,373 ETH (approximately $8.3 million)
- 7.76 million ENA tokens (approximately $4.6 million)
- Nearly 39 billion PEPE tokens (approximately $414K)
These sales occurred within a six-hour period on August 1st, raising questions about Hayes' short-term outlook on the market.
Macroeconomic Concerns Drive Hayes's Decision
Hayes directly addressed speculation, citing concerns about impending U.S. tariff bills in Q3 and their potential impact on the market. He also pointed to a lack of sufficient credit creation in major global economies to sustain nominal GDP growth.
He believes Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum's support levels at $100k and $3k, respectively, are likely to be tested.
“US Tariff bill coming due in 3Q … at least the market believes that after NFP print. No major economy is creating enough credit fast enough to boost nominal GDP. So $BTC tests $100k, $ETH tests $3k.”
Hayes's caution is tied to the latest U.S Non-Farm Payroll (NFP) report, which revealed just 73,000 new jobs being added in July.
Market Impact and Outlook
At the time of these transactions, Ethereum was trading around $3,490.70, down 0.5% over the past 24 hours. Despite this, ETH has seen a 150% rally from its April lows.
Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz remains optimistic, suggesting that Ethereum could climb even higher by year’s end.