The cryptocurrency market experienced a historic downturn on August 5, with global capital markets facing severe declines. Although U.S. markets showed slight recovery afterward, the shadow of "Black Monday" lingered.
The crypto market capitalization plunged below $1.9 trillion, marking a 16.8% 24-hour drop. Bitcoin’s valuation fell below $1 trillion, slipping to the 10th position among global assets, while Ethereum erased all its year-to-date gains, reverting to January 1 price levels.
However, market crashes often present unique opportunities. With data from 0xScope, we analyzed Ethereum blockchain transactions exceeding $100,000 between August 5–6 to uncover which tokens whales bought or sold during this volatility.
Key Whale Activity Breakdown
🟢 Bitcoin (BTC, WBTC, tBTC)
- 292 transactions: 199 buys (1,949.11 BTC) vs. 93 sells (923.01 BTC)
- Net inflow: 1,694.31 BTC ($91.1M) from 98 whales
Top movers:
- Largest single buy: 124.5 BTC ($6.7M)
- Largest single sell: 82.3 BTC ($4.4M)
🔵 Ethereum (ETH & Liquid Staking Tokens)
- 469 transactions: 271 buys (53,593 ETH) vs. 198 sells (33,070 ETH)
- Net inflow: 46,077 ETH ($120.9M) from 74 whales
- Notable: wstETH and weETH accounted for 38% of ETH-related purchases
🐸 Meme Coin Dynamics
- PEPE: 16 whales net bought 1.14T tokens ($8M), while 23 sold 1.39T tokens ($10.1M)
- MOG: Despite 88 transactions, net sellers dominated (37 whales sold 6.36T tokens)
- DOG: 80% of transactions were sells (400M tokens dumped)
🏆 Top Altcoin Movers
- NEIRO: AI token saw 7 whales accumulate 8.36M tokens ($975K)
- CRV: 3 buys totaling 2.87M tokens ($613K) signaled confidence
- RNDR: GPU token had 4 whales net buy 180K tokens ($756K)
🔻 Heavily Sold Assets
- FLOKI: 100% sell-side pressure ($1.3M outflow)
- KAS: Zero buys, 4 sells ($731K)
- PRIME: 6 whales unloaded 196K tokens ($1.1M)
Strategic Takeaways
- BTC/ETH Dominance: Whales reinforced positions in blue-chip assets, suggesting long-term holding strategies.
- Meme Coin Caution: Selective accumulation (PEPE) contrasted with broad meme token sell-offs.
- AI & Infrastructure Focus: NEIRO and RNDR inflows highlight growing sector interest.
👉 Discover real-time whale tracking tools to stay ahead of market moves.
FAQ
Q: Why did whales buy BTC while selling altcoins?
A: This "flight to safety" reflects risk-off sentiment during volatility, with BTC perceived as a store-of-value.
Q: Are meme coins still whale targets?
A: Yes, but selectively—PEPE saw buys while others faced heavy selling, indicating refined meme strategies.
Q: What’s the most surprising whale move?
A: CRV accumulation amid its price slump suggests some whales anticipate a rebound.
Q: How reliable is this whale data?
A: While indicative, remember whales may use OTC desks—this tracks only on-chain swaps >$100k.
👉 Explore advanced blockchain analytics for deeper insights.
Data period: August 5–6, Ethereum swaps >$100k. Excludes stablecoins and tokens with <4 transactions. Source: 0xScope.