Institutions are accumulating Ethereum in a new wave, ETH up 0.3%

Ethereum’s (ETH) recent price struggles haven’t stopped institutions from accumulating coins, with major entities moving significant holdings from exchanges. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has gone up by 0.3% since rebounding from recent lows and reclaiming the $2,650 level.

On-chain data from Lookonchain revealed that in the past two days, Cumberland, a crypto asset management firm, withdrew 62,381 ETH (worth approximately $174 million) from exchanges and transferred it to Coinbase Prime. 

It seems that institutions are accumulating $ETH.

In the past 2 days, #Cumberland withdrew 62,381 $ETH($174M) from exchanges and transferred it to #CoinbasePrime.https://t.co/AT53HHa36m pic.twitter.com/6NJxnKxjZH

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 6, 2025

The news comes just two days after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, purchased 100,535 ETH valued at $276 million, taking their total holdings to 1,352,934 ETH, worth approximately $3.71 billion, according to Lookonchain’s February 5 X update. 

Arkham Intelligence data shows that after its latest ETH transaction, Cumberland is managing over $31 million in crypto assets, which include AAVE, USDC, AVAX, USDT, and. 

Ethereum outflows from exchanges fuel price recovery

Ethereum’s recent price action follows a period of intense market volatility that saw its price drop to as low as $2,120. Buyers stepped in aggressively at that level, leading to a strong recovery. The rally gathered momentum after ETH broke through key resistance levels at $2,550 and $2,650, and as of the time of this publication, the coin is changing hands above $2,800.

Records from CryptoQuant show that Ethe’s netflow, which tracks the total inflows and outflows from trading platforms, saw 367.6 ETH (approximately $992,000) move from exchanges on Wednesday. 

There have been three consecutive days of cumulative negative netflow recordings, signaling a growing confidence among investors of an incoming price rally.

Kraken exchange was the biggest contributor to the outflows, garnering about 299 ETH, representing over 80% of the total.

CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha noted on Wednesday that Ethereum’s exchange netflow on derivative exchanges has fallen below -300,000 ETH for the first time since August 2023. This suggests traders are moving large amounts of ETH off exchanges, reducing sell pressure. 

Bitcoin exchange outflows continue

Bitcoin also experienced the same market sentiment, with centralized exchanges registering a net outflow of over 17,000 BTC, valued at approximately $1.6 billion based on Bitcoin’s market price of $98,600. 

According to data from Glassnode, this marked the largest single-day outflow of BTC since April 2024.

Similar to Ethereum, exchange data from CryptoQuant further shows that all major crypto trading platforms recorded a total negative net flow of 47,000 BTC yesterday. Of that, 15,800 BTC was attributed to Coinbase alone.

Coinbase split 4 addresses totaling 20,949 BTC, into 60 Addresses: 20 x 245 BTC and 40 x 401 BTC
looks like something is cooking, possible major purchases this week by ETFs or MSTR https://t.co/br8iMlnyaD

— Sani | TimechainIndex.com (@SaniExp) February 5, 2025

Large investors typically withdraw Bitcoin from exchanges when they plan to hold it for the long term, which the market considers a bullish signal.

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