The broader crypto market briefly looked set for relief, but recent activity might instead be hinting at capital draining out. In fact, the total crypto market capitalization, which once peaked at $4.6 trillion, sat at $2.12 trillion at press time.
Ethereum [ETH] has tracked this very decline. The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization topped out at $597.54 billion, before sliding to $203.56 billion – Shedding more than half its value along the way.
A near-term turnaround now looks doubtful though. Especially after fresh moves from a top trader who recently called the prospect of a local top into question.
Arthur Hayes moves ETH; trouble ahead?
Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer of Maelstrom and former BitMEX CEO, has shifted a large sum of ETH from his private wallets onto centralized crypto exchanges.
The transfers, tracked by Onchain Lens, revealed 6,000 ETH worth roughly $10.41 million moving from Hayes’ private wallets to the exchanges FalconX and Galaxy Digital.
Moves like these, from private wallets onto exchanges, typically signal an intent to sell. No single transfer confirms a sale, yet the signal still carries weight, since pressure builds the moment ETH becomes available to offload.
Confirmed or not, such transfers often precede a sell-off and tend to pull in retail investors who follow the lead.
Ethereum exchange reserves point to rising sell pressure
Ethereum‘s exchange reserves have climbed in dollar terms since 5 June, rising from $22.97 billion by roughly $2.62 billion to date. Reserves growing in dollar terms point to mounting sell pressure across exchanges.
A more granular view, measuring reserve growth by ETH held rather than dollar value, places the surge on 9 June though. Especially as the balance rose from 14.54 million to 14.62 million ETH—an 80,000 ETH increase per the latest reading on 18 June. An increase of that scale often means traders could trigger sell-offs at any moment.
Spot netflow data, which measures the gap between ETH entering and leaving exchanges to show whether buyers or sellers hold the upper hand, pointed to sellers. Total netflows recorded a net outflow of roughly 66,255.2 ETH, meaning more ETH left than entered – About $112.09 million more in value offloaded.
At press time, the incomplete 19 June reading showed buying outpacing selling, even after Hayes moved his ETH. Put simply, at the time of writing, the overall exchange activity seemed to leave sellers firmly in control.
Arthur Hayes’ past moves have pressured prices
In the past, whenever Hayes has shifted crypto from private wallets onto exchanges, the moves—once confirmed as sales—have carried a net negative effect on the price.
For example, on 4 June, he announced he had exited all his HYPE and NEAR positions, only days after predicting HYPE would reach $100 shortly—a level the asset never hit. Both assets fell after the announcement, with HYPE sliding to $54 and NEAR dropping to $1.81.
His latest move of ETH back onto exchanges has deflated the short-lived euphoria he sparked while accumulating the asset between 16-17 June, sending 4,400 ETH in total. Factoring in a further 3,000 ETH bought in previous weeks, his accumulation hit 7,400 ETH.
Right now, ETH is leaning more bearish than usual, with sellers staying more active than buyers.
Final Summary
- Arthur Hayes, a well-known former exchange CEO, moved a large amount of Ethereum onto trading platforms.
- Selling activity across exchanges has been outpacing buying.