The co-founder of Ethereum has been selling ETH nonstop as the bearish momentum in the crypto market deepens.
Ethereum ETH $2 059 24h volatility: 0.1% Market cap: $248.43 B Vol. 24h: $10.95 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.
According to data from Farside, spot ETH ETFs registered a net outflow of $79.4 million on February 4, led by ETHA’s, a BlackRock investment product, $58.9 million sale.
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.
According to data from DefiLlama, the DeFi total value locked decreased by 3.4% in 24 hours to $99.8 billion, a level last seen in May 2025.
The leading protocols Aave AAVE $94.84 24h volatility: 0.8% Market cap: $1.44 B Vol. 24h: $163.98 M and Lido LDO $0.32 24h volatility: 0.6% Market cap: $267.53 M Vol. 24h: $22.39 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 $35.87 24h volatility: 2.3% Market cap: $8.55 B Vol. 24h: $155.79 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 $35.87 24h volatility: 2.3% Market cap: $8.55 B Vol. 24h: $155.79 M , ETH and Solana SOL $80.50 24h volatility: 2.1% Market cap: $46.10 B Vol. 24h: $2.38 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.
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