Ethereum whales bought $254m ETH despite rise in exchange inflows

Ethereum whales accumulated the asset as it surged above the $2,600 mark despite a notable increase in exchange inflows, triggering mixed signals.

According to data provided by IntoTheBlock, the Ethereum (ETH) large holder inflow almost doubled over the past week—registering a net inflow of 97,220 ETH on Oct. 15 which is worth roughly $254 million at the current price point.

Large holder net flows – Oct. 16 | Source: IntoTheBlockAn increase in an asset’s whale net flow shows accumulation and vice versa, per ITB.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum exchange net flows also shifted from a net outflow of 5,700 ETH on Oct. 13 to a net inflow of 15,000 ETH yesterday. This movement shows that investors are aiming for short-term profits

On-chain data shows that ETH registered an exchange net inflow of $8.88 million over the past week.

This shift would be considered normal given that the ETH price rose from the 2,400 zone and surpassed $2,600 after two weeks of bearish consolidation

The chart shows major profit-taking momentum between 14:00 UTC and 15:00 UTC on Tuesday as Ethereum quickly plunged from its local high of $2,685 to $2,540. Roughly $16.6 billion was wiped from the ETH market cap within an hour.

ETH price – Oct. 16 | Source: crypto.newsDespite the increased short-term profit-taking, ETH is still hovering above the $2,600 mark at the time of writing. The leading altcoin has a market cap of $313 billion with a daily trading volume of $22 billion

Ethereum is still lacking a strong catalyst to continue its upward momentum. The U.S.-based spot ETH exchange-traded funds have also been performing poorly. These investment products recorded a net outflow of $12.7 million on Oct. 15 while the spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs saw a net inflow of $371 million.

Per a crypto.news report, the Australia-based Monochrome Asset Management launched the first spot ETH ETF in the country on Tuesday. The fund currently has only $272,908 in total net assets.