Whales Stir BTC, ETH and Meme Coins: Price Volatility, Liquidations, and Big Gains

Crypto Whales defined market moves this week. On-chain analytics from Whale Alert, Arkham Intelligence and Santiment show record-sized transactions across Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins and meme tokens. Based on reports, nearly $216 million in Bitcoin (1,995 BTC) arrived on Coinbase on May 29, while 50,000 ETH ($136.4M) was transferred from Arbitrum to Binance the same day.

Whales moved funds into staking and exchanges: 48,000 ETH ($125M) was moved from Binance into Ethereum’s Beacon Deposit (staking) on May 27, and $200 million in USDT flowed into OKX on May 30. Meme-coin whales were active too, Santiment data show large Dogecoin addresses accumulated 740 million DOGE ($180M) in late May even as Shiba Inu whales pulled back.

Notable Whale Transfers This Week

Bitcoin Whale Transfers

Whale Alert flagged two big deposits on May 29, totaling 1,995 BTC ($216M) into Coinbase, from an unknown wallet and from Cumberland (a liquidity provider). These inbound flows often mean whales are selling. In fact, Santiment data show whale wallets holding 100–1,000 BTC have been accumulating in recent weeks. 337 new such wallets were created, accumulating 122,330 BTC over six weeks.

The opposing activity suggests some whales are selling into strength while others are still accumulating. This tug-of-war coincided with Bitcoin’s price volatility. After a May 22 peak near $112,000, BTC fell to about $104,000 on May 30, triggering massive liquidations. Notably, a crypto whale named James Wynn saw his $1.25B BTC long position liquidated as BTC dipped, losing nearly $100M.

Such big sell-offs by high-leverage players added to intraday volatility. On the other side, a big whale buy was seen on May 30,  social feeds reported that a whale bought 8,000 BTC ($850M) around 9:45 AM UTC. This on-chain purchase by an exchange or large trader coincided with increased trading volume. Analysts see big buys like this as potential catalysts for new rallies.

Ethereum Whale Transfers

Ethereum whales were active too. On May 27, 48,000 ETH ($125M) was moved from a Binance wallet to the Beacon Deposit contract (staking), meaning a big holder is locking up ETH for yield. A day later, 50,000 ETH ($136M) was bridged from Arbitrum (a Layer-2 network) to Binance, likely for trading or custodial purposes.

These moves show crypto whales both securing long-term positions (staking) and moving capital across networks. . On-chain metrics confirm heavy whale interest. Large ETH transactions greater than $100K increased by about 20% over the prior week and about $250M flowed into ETH-focused ETFs. Institutional demand and whale accumulation are believed to both be behind this move.

Stablecoins and Meme coins

The crypto whale moves weren’t limited to just BTC and ETH. A single transaction on May 30 moved 200 million USDT to OKX, injecting about $200M liquidity into that exchange. Stablecoin flows like this often precede trading activity. Arkham Intelligence noted multiple $200M transfers of the USD1 stablecoin into Binance totaling $600M this late May, likely to provide exchange liquidity.

In the meme coin space, crypto whales were also active. TheCryptoBasic reported a whale scooping 4,572,758 BONE (the Shibarium gas token) worth $1.3M on May 29, moving it from OKX to a private wallet. Santiment data show major accumulation in Dogecoin addresses holding 100M–1B DOGE added roughly 740 million DOGE ($180M) over the week.

These trends helped DOGE reach a 10-day high, near $0.24. In contrast, Shiba Inu’s whale activity went dark: CoinDesk research shows SHIB’s large transaction volume dropped 74% in five days, with inflows/outflows down almost 80% for May.

This sudden slowdown in whale trading coincided with SHIB stalling at resistance near $0.00001470. Lack of whale support has capped Shiba’s upside, proving how whale interest or lack thereof can kill or fuel altcoin moves.

Prices, Liquidity and Sentiment

Large inflows into exchanges like the 1,995 BTC to Coinbase and 200M USDT to OKX increased exchange balances, a condition often correlated with near-term selling pressure. Indeed, BTC spiked in volatility: after hitting $112K on May 22, it fell to $104K on May 30, briefly triggering mass liquidations.

Bullish signals come from crypto whale buying and staking. The Crypto Rover tweet about an 8,000 BTC buy sparked bullish speculation; the large ETH stake deposit (48k ETH) removed supply from trading pools. Meanwhile, meme-coin activity boosted retail sentiment.

Dogecoin’s whale buying supported the rally, while Shiba’s liquidity dried up with the whale sell-off. In aggregate, analysts say there’s cautious optimism. Glassnode reports many long-term Bitcoin holders are holding through the volatility, adding to on-chain strength,  and Santiment notes new whale wallets are accumulating BTC aggressively.

Liquidity dynamics changed too. On Ethereum, crypto whales moving large amounts into staking reduces immediate sell pressure by locking tokens. Large stablecoin deposits to exchanges (USD1 and USDT) means more firepower for trades.

Overall, the combination of whale sells and buys resulted in mixed but heavy trading volumes and moving average crossovers. ETH’s 50-day MA crossed above its 200-day MA this week, a bullish “golden cross” mentioned by analysts.

Conclusion

Crypto whales funds, institutions and big speculators used the late May consolidation to reposition;  some cashed out at exchanges, others stacked coins. Trading however, still remains very much volatile.

This week’s whale activity shows how big holders dominate crypto markets. Multi-million dollar coin movements to and from exchanges, plus strategic staking, affected prices and liquidity. Meme and Altcoin whales behaved differently, Dogecoin whales buying aggressively while Shiba Inu whales paused.

Overall, the data is cautiously optimistic: locked in positions and new buying. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and join our Telegram channel.

FAQs

How do crypto whale transactions affect prices?

Large crypto whale transfers change market liquidity. Depositing coins to exchanges usually means selling (price pressure), while withdrawing (or staking) means holding or hoarding which supports prices.

Why do crypto whales move coins to exchanges?

To sell or trade. An exchange deposit is the first step before placing large orders. For example, 2,000 BTC moved to Coinbase on May 29, those funds were probably for sale.

What about the 8,000 BTC whale buy?

Such a huge on-chain purchase (reported on May 30) means a big player is all in. This likely contributed to the bullish sentiment as big buys often precede rallies.

How often do whales affect the market?

Whales are always in the crypto game. High volatility or news events trigger whale moves. As we saw this week, coordinated whale trades can move the market either way.

Glossary

Crypto whale: A person or organization holding a large amount of cryptocurrency. Whales can move markets by their trades.

Exchange inflow/outflow: Cryptocurrency deposited to (inflow) or withdrawn from (outflow) a trading platform. Big inflows often mean selling pressure.

On-chain analytics: Data from blockchain records. Platforms like Whale Alert and Arkham track large transfers between addresses or exchanges.

Staking/Beacon Deposit: Locking cryptocurrency (like ETH) into a protocol to earn rewards. Large stakes reduce the circulating supply.

Meme coin: A cryptocurrency with a meme or joke theme (e.g., DOGE, SHIB). Whale activity in these coins often means big price moves.

Santiment: A crypto analytics firm tracking on-chain volume and social sentiment. They report on whale accumulation and trader emotion.

Lookonchain: A blockchain analytics brand that finds large wallet movements on social media.

Sources

Tokenpost

Whalealert

Beincrypto

Fxstreet

CoinDesk

Arkm

Santiment