Ethereum (ETH) has breached the $3,400 mark for the first time in over six months, signaling a strong bullish rally. 

While the milestone has prompted some investors to engage in profit-taking, others are aggressively accumulating ETH, reflecting divergent strategies.

SharpLink Gaming and World Liberty Financial Boost Ethereum Holdings

BeInCrypto reported yesterday that Ethereum rose to become the 30th largest global asset, overtaking Johnson & Johnson. Furthermore, analysts displayed high optimism about its prospects, and ETH appears to be living up to those expectations.

Yesterday, the altcoin’s price surged to over $3,424 before dipping slightly. Still, over the last 24 hours, ETH’s value has appreciated by 6.87%. At the time of writing, it was trading at $3,324.

Amid this surge, on-chain data highlighted significant moves by major whales. SharpLink Gaming, which launched its Ethereum treasury strategy last month, has doubled down on its bet. 

According to data from EmberCN, the firm has emerged as a major accumulator, adding 20,279 ETH, valued at approximately $68.38 million. SharpLink purchased this ETH stack through Coinbase Prime and Galaxy Digital. 

“In the past 8 days, they’ve accumulated 111,609 ETH ($343.38 million),” Lookonchain posted.

This latest acquisition brings SharpLink’s total ETH holdings to 321,000 ETH. The average purchase price is approximately $2,745. Additionally, the firm is now sitting at an unrealized profit of $204 million.

Besides SharpLink, other entities are also bolstering their ETH positions. OnchainLens highlighted that President Donald Trump-backed DeFi project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), acquired 3,007.4 ETH worth around $10 million. The purchase price per coin was $3,325.

Furthermore, Lookonchain noted that an address linked to Fenbushi Capital withdrew 4,000 ETH from Binance, signaling potential strategic repositioning. Similarly, an unknown whale withdrew 7,980 ETH worth $26.86 million from Kraken. 

EmberCN added that this entity has pulled out a total of 88,292 ETH, equivalent to $250 million, from Kraken since last week. At present, the unrealized profit stands at $49.5 million.

“This address is a new one and has only interacted with Kraken’s hot wallet. Personally, I feel this could be the address of a US publicly traded company with an ETH reserve plan that hasn’t disclosed its address yet. Of course, there’s also a possibility that this is Kraken’s own cold wallet for storing ETH though this is less likely,” the on-chain analyst stated.

Whales Take Profits as Ethereum’s Price Surges

Meanwhile, profit-taking and selling activities are also evident among other market participants. Trend Research, an investment firm, offloaded 79,470 ETH, valued at $250 million at an average price of $3,145 over the past two days. 

The firm had acquired 184,115 ETH, worth $390 million, at an average price of $2,118 between February 26 and June 20. Their Ethereum holdings now stand at 105,664 ETH, valued at $354 million. 

Another whale sold 98,610 ETH, valued at $278 million, at an average price of $2,819 over the past eight days. They still hold 35,022 ETH, worth $117.5 million. The holder previously made over $30 million in profit from Ethereum.

Lastly, Argot Collective, a non-profit organization, sold 1,210 ETH for 4.09 million USDC. The foundation had received 7,000 ETH in operational funding from the Ethereum Foundation.

“Since starting to sell ETH for stablecoins on 7/11, they have converted 3,626.6 ETH into 11.2 million USDC, with an average selling price of $3,089,” EmberCN revealed.

These buying and selling actions reflect the contrasting strategies investors are employing at the current rally. SharpLink’s accumulation positions the firm as a key player, while Trend Research’s sell-off introduces a counterbalance to the ongoing bullish trend.