The cryptocurrency market is seeing another round of major whale activity, as blockchain analytics company Nansen AI reported a significant move by well-known Ethereum investor Satofishi. The investor transferred a total of 3,000 ETH, valued at roughly $9.6 million, into the Binance exchange. The whale incurred an astonishing loss of $6.92 million in the transaction, which is particularly striking because only six weeks ago it purchased 6,947 ETH for a much larger basis cost of approximately $29 million.
The Anatomy of a Costly Trade
According to on-chain data, the wallet known as Satofishi made a large deposit on Binance after he held the position for approximately 1.5 months. The whale’s initial purchase was at an average price, which has become a huge increase over the current market prices.
With ETH trading around $3,200 during the time the whale deposited these 3,000 ETH, this is a forced recognition of market reality that the whale encountered. After the deposit, Satofishi still has ETH in their wallet – 3,947 ETH in total, which is worth approximately $12.54 million and is also under water as if it is the original purchase price. The cost of an ETH was approximately $4175, which is significantly higher than the current levels.
Mounting Sell Pressure from Major Players
The Satofishi transaction is a result of increased sales from major Ethereum stakeholders. Binance and BlackRock offloaded approximately $1 billion worth of ETH in approximately ten hours, with several transactions involving more than 1,000 ETH that were sent to Wintermute, Bybit and other settlement accounts. These coordinated actions of institutional scale holders have created a challenging situation for Ethereum bulls.
Binance acquired approximately 413,000 ETH ($1.4 billion) from major shareholders, which is the largest outflow since February. This equivocal data is indicative of the conflict between different types of investors with some accumulating and other liquidating positions. A dormant whale accumulated $207 million in ETH after years of inactivity, indicating the extent to which even long-term holders occasionally tend to lose their holding portfolios.
Technical Outlook and Market Dynamics
Ethereum is expanding around $3,200, technical analysts believe this price area to be pivotal in the short term. Chart analyst TedPillows pointed out possible reactions by the $3,380 and the $3,700, which were previous breakdown areas. The $3,200 support has been tested multiple times, resulting in a tight consolidation structure. CryptoQuant order book data revealed the presence of whales in large order spots while Ethereum was trading at a small range, indicating potential opportunistic buyers experiencing attractive entry points at current rates.
Ethereum is facing a fire test as the Fusaka upgrade is on Dec 3 of 2025. The intended purpose of an upgrade is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the system. The market is at what appears to be an inflection point, with Ethereum’s price remaining above the key moving averages despite institutional selling pressure.
Conclusion
The $6.92 million loss incurred by the Satofishi whale, despite an investment of $100 million, serves as a stark illustration that even highly experienced investors with substantial capital can misjudge market conditions. The battle of stories between institutional distribution and whale accumulation is likely to characterize Ethereum’s journey through the year-end. For retail investors that watch these whale movements, position sizing, risk management, and patience is more important than trying to time perfectly entered positions. As the Fusaka upgrade approaches this coming week, Ethereum’s next major move may be based on whether the $3,200 support level is valid or if it is broken.
