- World Liberty Finance and Grayscale, two major institutions, have transferred a substantial portion of their ETH holdings to exchanges, signaling the potential for a sell-off.
- Investor activity in ETH has stalled, with the funding premium turning negative as demand drops.
Ethereum [ETH] has underperformed in recent weeks, dropping by 18.31% over the past month. The bearish trend continued in the last 24 hours, with a slight loss of 0.53%.
Recent market trends suggest that Ethereum’s decline may intensify in the coming days, particularly following the inauguration of the new U.S. president, Donald Trump.
Investor movements don’t favor ETH
In a recent move, World Liberty Finance, associated with President-elect Donald Trump, increased its ETH holdings by acquiring more tokens, only to sell off.
This transaction involved World Liberty swapping 103 WBTC, valued at $9.89 million at the time of the exchange, for 3,075 ETH.
After completing the swap, they added 15,461 ETH to their holdings, bringing their total to 18,536 ETH, which was then deposited on the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Prime.
Source: DeBank
Typically, when assets move from private wallets to exchanges, it signals an impending sell-off. However, in this case, the sell-off may not occur immediately.
World Liberty Finance may be holding the assets in anticipation of a price surge following the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Trump, as seen in the past.
The possibility of a significant Ethereum rally with Trump assuming office could mirror the price surge following his 2024 presidential win.
On the 5th of November 2024, ETH surged by 72.70%, rising from a low of $2,379.30 to a high of $4,109.00 on the 16th of December 2024—just 42 days later.
Source: TradingView
If history repeats itself, World Liberty Finance may aggressively sell off its ETH on Coinbase Prime after the anticipated price surge, potentially driving ETH’s price down.
Additional data from Intel reveals that institutional investor Grayscale, known for its large ETH holdings, has followed a similar pattern, moving its assets to Coinbase Prime.
According to the data, three transactions saw a total of 16,941 ETH moved to Coinbase Prime, valued at $54.27 million at the time, signaling a bearish stance on the asset.
Source: X
Demand has begun to decline
According to CryptoQuant’s premium index, which measures institutional demand for an asset, there has been a significant drop in ETH’s fund premium. It now trades at a negative 0.515, moving further away from its neutral zone.
A drop below the neutral zone (zero) indicates that institutional investors are less willing to pay a premium for ETH, suggesting a decline in demand and a gradually bearish outlook.
Source: CryptoQuant
Simultaneously, spot traders are showing signs of uncertainty. These traders now prefer to hold their assets on exchanges, where they can easily sell, rather than in private wallets for long-term holding.
Read Ethereum’s [ETH] Price Prediction 2025-26
This behavior is reflected in the exchange netflow, which shifted from a daily netflow of negative 39,270 ETH in early January to just 6,093 ETH, at the time of writing.
This sentiment suggests that both institutional and retail investors are losing interest, with some gradually selling off their positions. However, the overall sentiment remains that ETH is still viewed as a bullish asset.
