Altcoins News

Story: Ethereum Down 45% in 2026 While SharpLink and Whales Keep Buying

By Pankaj K

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SharpLink and Whales Load Up. SharpLink has been one of the more visible institutional names adding ETH during the downturn.

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What's Dragging Ethereum's Price Down. Ethereum's decline isn't happening in a vacuum. Regulatory pressure across the broader crypto…

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What the Accumulation Could Mean for Markets. Large-scale buying by entities like SharpLink and whales doesn't move markets instantly.

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Ethereum is bleeding. Down 45% year-to-date, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has had a rough run — and yet some of the biggest money in the room is still buying…

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SharpLink and a cluster of crypto whales have been quietly stacking ETH through the entire slide. That's not panic selling. That's not sitting on the sidelines either.

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Ethereum's 45% drop year-to-date isn't small. It's brutal.

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Why would anyone keep buying something that's down nearly half? A few possible reads. One: they think the price is wrong, and the market will eventually catch up to what they see…

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It's worth noting that whale behavior in crypto markets has historically been a mixed signal. Sometimes they're right.

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Related: Tether Briefly Tops Ethereum in Market Cap as ETH Drops Below $1,600

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And yet. SharpLink is buying. Whales are buying. That divergence is the story.

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The institutional picture isn't clean, though. Not every big player is loading up. Some have scaled back exposure, citing volatility and the murky regulatory environment.

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Ethereum's foundational role in decentralized finance and smart contract infrastructure hasn't gone away. The network still processes a massive volume of transactions.

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Large-scale buying by entities like SharpLink and whales doesn't move markets instantly. But it can shift sentiment over time, especially if the accumulation becomes more visible…

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The full impact of what SharpLink and the whale cohort are doing won't be clear for a while. Could be months. Could be longer. Regulatory developments will matter.

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More context: Tether Flips Ethereum in Market Cap as Ether Crashes to $1,500

The Currency Analytics

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