Ethereum loses $6.4B in leverage while whales accumulate – Here’s why

It’s just one of those times, really.

Even with prices sliced nearly in half and Open Interest (OI) evaporating, Ethereum [ETH] still anchors the biggest pools of DeFi money and stablecoins. And while traders back away, big buyers keep buying.

The disconnect is growing.

Ethereum still owns the “big money” layer

Even with falling prices, Ethereum continued to dominate where it actually matters.

Source: X

Apps on Ethereum now hold $330.4 billion in TVL, dwarfing every competing chain by a mile.

Source: X

Its stablecoin base is just as massive, with $184.6 billion sitting on Ethereum alone; far ahead of TRON [TRX], Solana [SOL], or any L2.

That liquidity foundation explains why major flows, lending markets, and DEX volume still like ETH despite its ebbs and flows.

Bitmine buys more

While Ethereum’s fundamentals remain stacked, the whales don’t want to miss out.

Source: X

Lookonchain flagged another major buy: Tom Lee’s Bitmine scooped up 7,080 ETH worth roughly $19.8 million. This vote of confidence comes at a bad time for ETH, with its price down from earlier highs.

AMBCrypto previously reported that even as activity migrates to L2s, valuation models still say ETH is undervalued. 10 out of 12 metrics placed their fair value far higher than current prices. At the time, estimates put ETH’s Composite Fair Value near $4.8k; despite market stress, the asset remained structurally mispriced.

This is possibly why Derivatives markets continue to treat ETH as core infrastructure rather than a fading trade.

What’s more…

Ethereum’s Open Interest has gone through an unwinding, with a deeper market reset than many realize.

On Binance alone, OI collapsed 51%, falling from an August peak of $12.6 billion to $6.2 billion. This wiped out $6.4 billion in positions.

Source: X

Gate.io saw a drop from $5.2 billion to $3.5 billion, and Bybit was hit even harder, plunging from $6.1 billion to $2.3 billionB. Paired with ETH slipping 43% from $4,830 to $2,800, 2025’s overheated leverage cycle is finally unwinding.

The leverage-heavy market that pushed ETH higher is now the same one speeding up its fall.

Final Thoughts

• Ethereum’s fundamentals remain untouched, even as traders pull back.
• The network sees $330B in TVL and whales are still buying.