The cryptocurrency market is experiencing slightly less negativity for the first time in two months as whales begin accumulating DeFi tokens.
By Wahid Pessarlay
Editor Hamza Tariq
Updated
2 mins read
Whales have begun accumulating crypto assets related to decentralized finance protocols as the market gains bullish momentum.
According to data from Lookonchain, three whale addresses received $15.9 million worth of DeFi tokens over the past two days.
Whales/institutions have been accumulating #Solana #DeFi tokens recently.
Over the past 2 days, three wallets withdrew $15.9M worth of #DeFi tokens from exchanges, including:
7.39B $PUMP($13.77M)
8.02M $CLOUD($621K)
9.06M $KMNO($539K)
1.33M $JTO($521K)
3.05M $DRIFT($479K)… pic.twitter.com/aOCl6CBkiw— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 31, 2025
The tokens include PUMP, CLOUD, Kamino KMNO $0.0578 24h volatility: 1.8% Market cap: $208.24 M Vol. 24h: $24.31 M , Jito JTO $0.39 24h volatility: 2.7% Market cap: $161.95 M Vol. 24h: $18.07 M , and DRIFT DRIFT $0.15 24h volatility: 3.7% Market cap: $84.37 M Vol. 24h: $8.63 M . Among them, CLOUD and DRIFT posted mild declines, while PUMP and KMNO gained over 6%. JTO rose by just 1%.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has also been buying DeFi tokens over the past two weeks. According to Lookonchain, Hayes sold $5.53 million in Ethereum ETH $2 978 24h volatility: 0.1% Market cap: $359.25 B Vol. 24h: $16.85 B to buy Pendle PENDLE $1.88 24h volatility: 0.1% Market cap: $310.22 M Vol. 24h: $40.19 M , Lido LDO $0.58 24h volatility: 1.3% Market cap: $491.18 M Vol. 24h: $28.62 M , Ethena ENA $0.20 24h volatility: 3.5% Market cap: $1.54 B Vol. 24h: $100.76 M and Ether.fi ETHFI $0.69 24h volatility: 2.2% Market cap: $450.29 M Vol. 24h: $29.92 M .
Arthur Hayes(@CryptoHayes) just bought more DeFi tokens.
Over the past 2 weeks, he sold 1,871 $ETH($5.53M) and then bought:
961,113 $PENDLE($1.75M)
2.3M $LDO($1.29M)
6.05M $ENA($1.24M)
491,401 $ETHFI($343K)https://t.co/loeYKUb9rN pic.twitter.com/xTxyx34SXk— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 31, 2025
The BitMEX co-founder is not a new player in the DeFi coins scene. Currently, his total altcoin holdings are worth roughly $78.3 million, according to data from Arkham.
Another massive crypto whale made a $332 million ETH deposit to Binance for a potential selloff due to the asset’s weak performance.
Since early October, the cryptocurrency market cap has lost over $1 trillion of its value. Last month, the market sentiment fell to “extreme fear” levels not seen since the FTX collapse in 2022.
Most of the leading assets, including Bitcoin BTC $87 651 24h volatility: 1.3% Market cap: $1.75 T Vol. 24h: $36.09 B and ETH, took distance from their all-time high. BTC is down 30%, and ETH is 40% away from their respective ATHs.
Today, Dec. 31, however, the market-wide traction helped slightly boost the community’s sentiment. According to CMC data, the Fear and Greed Index rose to 32 for the first time since Nov. 3.
Despite the bearish performance over the past three months, some analysts are still expecting a market-wide recovery for the crypto assets. There have been hints of an $8,500 pierce target for Ethereum, the leading altcoin.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Wahid has been analyzing and reporting on the latest trends in the decentralized ecosystem since 2019. He has over 4,000 articles to his name and his work has been featured on some of the leading outlets including Yahoo Finance, Investing.com, Cointelegraph, and Benzinga. Other than reporting, Wahid likes to connect the dots between DeFi and macro on his newsletter, On-chain Monk.
