Ethereum News: $158M BlackRock BTC and ETH Move and BitMine Nears 5%
Ethereum News Today: Whales Rotate, Institutions Buy and Shorts Shift
Ethereum is having a rough day on the charts, but a very active one beneath the surface. Prices have slipped alongside the wider crypto market, yet large holders, trading desks, and institutional buyers are all making moves at the same time, some accumulating, some trimming risk, and some quietly closing profitable trades.
Layered on top of that is a fresh academic warning about how reliable Ethereum on-chain data actually is. Here is what's driving Ethereum news today.
At a Glance
-
ETH price trades at $2,400.95, down 3.6% in 24 hours, with $18.78 billion in volume and a $293.24 billion market cap
-
A whale swapped $65.37 million of WBTC and cbBTC for 26,924 coins
-
Abraxas Capital added 13,700 coins spot while running a $437 million coins short on Hyperliquid
-
BlackRock accumulated 11.69K coins worth roughly $28.3 million from Coinbase Prime
-
BitMine is 98% of the way to holding 5% of Ethereum total supply
-
Wintermute cut its ETH short from 15.33K to 7.81K coins as it booked profits
-
A new BIS paper warns that Ethereum's on-chain activity metrics may be distorted by bot interactions
Ethereum Price Today: ETH Slides to $2,400 as Market Pressure Builds
As of September 16, ETH is priced at $2,400.95, down 3.6% over the past 24 hours. Trading volume sits near $18.78 billion, and Ethereum market capitalization is holding around $293.24 billion.
The pullback comes amid broader risk-off sentiment across crypto, a backdrop that helps explain why several large players are adjusting leveraged positions even as others continue to buy ETH outright.
Source: Coingecko Data
Whale Rotates $65 Million From Bitcoin Into Ethereum
Onchain tracker Lookonchain flagged a notable rotation trade: wallet 0x4553 swapped 512 WBTC (about $38.64 million) and 354 cbBTC (about $26.73 million) for 26,924 ETH worth roughly $64.57 million.
Rotations of this size, moving directly out of Bitcoin-pegged tokens and into ETH, are often read as a signal of where a sophisticated holder expects near-term relative strength, even during a broad market dip.
Source: Lookonchain Data
Institutional Buying Continues Despite the Drop
Not every large player is stepping back. Abraxas Capital added another 13,700 ETH in spot purchases, worth close to $34.24 million. BlackRock separately accumulated and withdrew 11.69K ETH, worth about $28.3 million, from Coinbase Prime. Meanwhile, Matrixport moved 1,400 BTC (around $107.8 million) onto Binance and withdrew 10,000 tokens (about $24.67 million) from the exchange, a pattern that can reflect treasury management as much as directional conviction.
Source: Lookonchain
BitMine Nears 5% of Ethereum's Total Supply
Tom Lee's BitMine continues its long-running accumulation campaign, buying another $68.01 million of ETH last week. That brings its total holdings to 5,956,378 ETH, valued near $14.91 billion, or 4.9% of Ethereum's circulating supply. Roughly $359.4 million more in purchases would push the firm past the 5% threshold, a milestone 15 months in the making.
Source: Arkham Data
Leverage Rises as Large Traders Adjust Positions
Leverage tells a more mixed story. Trader Machi has been cutting losses, down more than $5 million in the past week, and now holds a 20,000 ETH long with a liquidation price of $2,380.57, uncomfortably close to current spot prices.
Abraxas Capital, even while buying spot Ethereum, is also running close to $1 billion in short exposure on Hyperliquid, including a 178,532 ETH short worth about $437 million.
Elsewhere, one Hyperliquid whale closed both Bitcoin and Ethereum shorts after four days, booking a combined $1.2 million profit and pushing its lifetime realized gains to $4.5 million across 39 trades.
Source: Lookonchain
Wintermute Cuts ETH Short Exposure as Selling Pressure Eases
Market maker Wintermute has started taking profit on its short book following the CLARITY Act's failure to advance. Its total short exposure fell from $102.1 million to $55.54 million, while unrealized profit climbed from $928,000 to $2.28 million. Its ETH-specific short was trimmed from 15.33K coins (about $38.47 million) to 7.81K coins (about $18.72 million).
Source: Onchain Lens
BIS Warns Ethereum's On-Chain Metrics May Misrepresent Activity
A new Bank for International Settlements paper, drawing on nearly 100 billion blockchain records across Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron, argues that popular on-chain indicators are less reliable than markets assume.
Bitcoin's transfer volume estimates can be off by up to six times due to how change outputs are handled, while Ethereum's roughly 13 million active contracts interact heavily with automated bots, distorting the picture of genuine user activity.
The paper also found that stablecoin behavior diverges by chain, with Ethereum leaning toward DeFi contract use and Tron toward simple transfers, and it calls for more standardized industry reporting.
Source: Wu Blockchain
Timeline of Ethereum Whale and Institutional Activity
| UTC Time | Development |
| ~15 Sep, 15:00 UTC | Machi had lost more than $5 million over the previous week and was left with a 20,000 coins long position, with liquidation at $2,380.57. |
| ~15 Sep, 20:00 UTC | Abraxas Capital bought another 13,700 tokens worth about $34.24 million, while its Hyperliquid tokens short stood at 178,532 tokens. |
| ~15 Sep, 23:00 UTC | Matrixport deposited 1,400 BTC worth about $107.8 million to Binance and withdrew 10,000 ETH worth about $24.67 million. |
| 16 Sep, 00:00 UTC | BlackRock accumulated 1,698.44 BTC and 11.69K tokens from Coinbase Prime, with the tokens portion worth about $28.3 million. |
| 16 Sep, 03:00 UTC | A Hyperliquid whale closed BTC and ETH shorts after four days, realizing about $1.20 million in combined profits. |
| 16 Sep, 04:00 UTC | Wintermute reduced its coins short from 15.33K coins to 7.81K coins, cutting exposure by roughly half. |
| 16 Sep, 06:00 UTC | Whale 0x4553 swapped 512 WBTC and 354 cbBTC, worth a combined $65.37 million, for 26,924 coins. |
| 16 Sep, ~11:25 UTC | The BIS report highlighted major differences in how Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tron on-chain activity can be measured. |
What This Means for Traders
Today's Ethereum news paints a market pulled in different directions at once. Price is under pressure, yet whales and institutions like Abraxas Capital, BlackRock and BitMine keep adding to spot holdings, suggesting longer-term conviction hasn't faded even as short-term sentiment sours.
At the same time, leveraged traders are split, some cutting shorts and booking profit, others sitting on longs uncomfortably close to liquidation. The BIS research adds a further layer of caution, a reminder that headline on-chain statistics don't always capture what's really happening beneath a blockchain's surface.
None of this points to a single clear direction, and traders should weigh these flows alongside their own risk tolerance rather than treat any single data point as predictive.
Conclusion
Ethereum's 3.6% daily decline sits alongside a wave of whale rotations, institutional accumulation, shifting leverage and a fresh warning about data reliability. Together, these developments suggest a market in transition rather than one moving in a single direction, with large holders positioning for the medium term even as short-term price action stays choppy.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile, and prices can change rapidly. Always conduct your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
