Whales are increasingly favoring long positions over retail traders in Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA), as reported by Alphractal, which analyzed the Whale vs Retail Delta, a metric assessing net leveraged positioning between large and small investors.

A positive delta indicates that whales are aggressively buying and leaning into longs, while a negative delta typically reflects distribution, with whales reducing longs or opening shorts even as retail continues buying.
Translation: A positive delta means whales are actively purchasing and taking long positions, contrasting with retail investors.

Whale Confidence Amid Market Turnaround

According to the latest observations, Ethereum has experienced a notable recovery after dropping below $2,750 last week, with a 4% increase in the past 24 hours bringing its price to $3,026. Despite this rise, ETH is still down 26.37% over the last month, reflecting ongoing market volatility.

The recovery of Ethereum seems heavily influenced by substantial accumulation from major investors, as wallets holding between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH now own over 21 million ETH, reaching levels not witnessed since the network’s inception.

In addition, holders with over 100,000 ETH have also increased their positions, which now total around 4.3 million ETH, indicating a growing conviction among institutional-scale investors and high-liquidity participants. This accumulation corresponds with decreasing supply on exchanges, specifically Binance, where reserves fell to approximately 3.764 million ETH.

Furthermore, a Hyperliquid ‘OG Whale,’ who previously profited nearly $200 million from shorts, has invested $10 million into existing ETH longs, expanding their total position to $44.5 million.

Crypto analyst Ali Martinez identified potential accumulation zones at $2,250, $1,550, and $1,080 as critical support levels, suggesting these price points may serve as strategic entry areas for investors ahead of a possible ETH rally.

ADA Bounces Back After Mishap

Similarly, Cardano’s price showed a recovery trajectory following a temporary decline linked to a chain split caused by a malformed transaction that activated a known bug from 2022. The resulting divergence created two parallel blockchain versions, necessitating prompt corrective action. After a rapid patch deployment, network stability was restored.

ADA saw a stabilizing effect and rose 4%, trading at $0.431 at the time of writing. However, it remains down over 35% in value over the past month.