Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has crashed twice within the last month, triggering a 24% loss. This notable decline was caused by the action of four large whales, moving substantial amounts of ETH tokens across various centralized exchanges between July and August. These four major players moved a combined $599 million in ETH, sparking interest across the crypto community.

After reaching a high of $3,500 on July 21, the price of the flagship altcoin has failed to re-break that level, consolidating between $3,200 and $2,500 since then. At the time of writing, the coin is changing hands at $2,536, signifying a 2.31% increase over the last day.

Large ETH Sell-Off Triggers Price Decline

Spot on Chain, an AI-driven market intelligence platform, highlighted four whales that were key players in the Ethereum (ETH) price decline over the last month. According to a post on X (formerly Twitter), these entities including The Ethereum Foundation, Jump Trading, an ICO-linked whale, and a Diamond Whale, shifted a total of 197,800 ETH to crypto exchanges, resulting in a 23.5% decline in the past month.

Ethereum Foundation and Jump Trading Transfers

On August 23, The Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports Ethereum and related technologies, transferred about 35,000 ETH, worth approximately $93.8 million, to the San Francisco-based crypto exchange, Kraken. Following the transfer, the price of the asset plunged by 9% a few days later. Notably, this wouldn’t be the first time the Foundation is moving massive amounts of ETH that precede a significant price drop, especially this year. At press time, the Ethereum Foundation still holds a staggering 275,000 ETH (worth $677.2 million).

Jump Trading, a leading data and research-based trading firm moved millions in ETH in the past month, contributing to the decline in price within the time. According to reports, the firm transferred 88,917 ETH, worth $276 million, between July 25 and August 6 to several crypto exchanges. Their transfer coincided with the ETH market crash that happened on August 5 when the price of the asset nosedived by over 20% in one day. At the time of writing, Jump Trading still holds 53,600 ETH, totaling $136.2 million, with 29,000 staked.

ICO and Diamond Whale Transfers and Reaction

A whale’s activity, with the wallet address ‘0xe17,’ was also spotted as one of the factors that catalyzed the ETH downtrend since July. This whale was involved in the Ethereum ICO (initial coin offering) which took place between July 22 and September 2, 2014. As per the Spot on Chain report, this whale has deposited a total of 48,500 ETH ($154 million) to the OKX exchange since July 9, at an approximate price of $3,173 per coin.

The first deposit of 38,500 ETH ($129 million), was made before the first ETH dump on August 5, and the second one, 10,000 ETH, valued at $24.8 million, was made before the second dump. Thus, this whale now holds 303K ETH (worth $751 million), with about 15,600 ETH still left in the address used for OKX deposits.

Lastly, a diamond whale, with the address ‘0x682,’ transferred about 25K ETH (worth $73.9 million) to the Kraken exchange on two different occasions. Interestingly, the two deposits preceded a significant price drop. The first, 10,000 ETH (worth $34.2 million), was shifted to the exchange on July 25 which followed a 7.6% drop in price. The second one moved 15,000 ETH, valued at $39.7 million, on August 20 which caused a 2.5% drop afterward. Notably, the two transfers were done at an average price of $3,420, and $2,645 respectively. Ultimately, this whale still holds 41,600 ETH with an accumulated profit of $127 million.

The effect of the transfers from these four entities underscores the major influence of large crypto holders in the market and how their movements affect the price trajectories of related assets.