Key Notes
- Vitalik Buterin has sold over $6 million in ETH in three days.
- The DeFi TVL fell below the $100 billion mark for the first time in nine months.
- ETH ETFs are struggling to keep the inflows.
Ethereum ETH $2 127 24h volatility: 5.6% Market cap: $256.88 B Vol. 24h: $54.42 B continues its bearish momentum toward the $2,000 mark as selling pressure persists from multiple sides.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has been selling the leading altcoin as the price fell into the $2,300 territory.
vitalik.eth(@VitalikButerin) is dumping $ETH fast!
Over the past 3 days, Vitalik has sold 2,961.5 $ETH($6.6M) at an average price of $2,228 — and the selling is still ongoing.https://t.co/Q9G1lEsdiP pic.twitter.com/C1vBn5UimJ
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 5, 2026
According to data from Lookonchain, Buterin sold 2,961.5 ETH for $6.6 million over the past three days. His average selling price is $2,228.
Spot ETH exchange-traded funds in the US have seen strong outflows since January 20, with very few inflows.
On the other hand, some investors and whales have been accumulating Ethereum despite the dominant bearish momentum. A
Leading centralized crypto exchanges recorded a net outflow of 143,640 ETH, worth $335 million.
DeFi Weakens
Following the bloodbath in crypto prices, the decentralized finance sector has also witnessed a downfall.
The leading protocols Aave AAVE $121.3 24h volatility: 4.3% Market cap: $1.84 B Vol. 24h: $686.19 M and Lido LDO $0.40 24h volatility: 5.1% Market cap: $335.20 M Vol. 24h: $44.83 M recorded 4.5% and 7% declines in their TVLs, respectively.
With the falling prices, traders who have been betting on price falls have seen significant gains.
For example, Lookonchain data shows that a whale on Hyperliquid HYPE $34.64 24h volatility: 4.1% Market cap: $8.27 B Vol. 24h: $828.85 M , calling it the “super short 0x20c2,” made a $102.7 million profit by betting against ETH.
This is a party for the shorts!
The $ETH super short 0x20c2 has made $102.7M by shorting $ETH.
The $SOL super short 0x35d1 has made $55.5M by shorting $SOL, $BTC, and $ETH.https://t.co/kY8l74stCOhttps://t.co/nkUzama0zb pic.twitter.com/WySYPKXShe
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 5, 2026
Another whale gained $55.5 million by shorting Bitcoin HYPE $34.64 24h volatility: 4.1% Market cap: $8.27 B Vol. 24h: $828.85 M , ETH and Solana SOL $92.30 24h volatility: 4.9% Market cap: $52.31 B Vol. 24h: $8.93 B .
ETH is down 29% in the last seven days and trading at $2,100 at the time of writing. Despite the selloff, the top altcoin is seeing increased trader activity, as its daily trading volume has increased by 11% to $51 billion.
