A large Ethereum holder exchanged 2,929.6 ETH for $12.64 million USDC via HyperUnit, potentially influencing short-term ETH prices.

Executive Summary

A whale deposited 2,929.6 ETH into HyperUnit and exchanged it for $12.64 million USDC at a price of $4,315 per ETH. This action may exert downward pressure on the price of ETH due to the increased supply on exchanges. Simultaneously, other whales have been observed accumulating ETH, signaling a mixed sentiment in the market.

The Event in Detail

On-chain data indicates that a whale deposited 2,929.6 ETH into the HyperUnit protocol and subsequently converted it to 12.64 million USDC. The transaction occurred at a rate of $4,315 per ETH. Simultaneously, a separate address accumulated 15,256.6 ETH from OKX at the same average price of $4,315, realizing an unrealized profit of $1.296 million. Furthermore, a Bitcoin OG transferred 2,360 BTC to HyperUnit and acquired 49,850 ETH in the past 10 hours.

Market Implications

The whale's sell-off of ETH could contribute to short-term price declines, potentially impacting overall market sentiment. However, the simultaneous accumulation of ETH by other large holders may offset this effect. The transfer of BTC into HyperUnit coupled with ETH accumulation suggests a possible strategic shift from Bitcoin to Ethereum by some investors. U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs experienced a -$787M net flow, but ETH price remained relatively stable.

Expert Commentary

"BTC is the most important crypto asset and historically the most difficult to bring to defi. Most wrapped BTC options today involve a single custodian, contradicting the ethos of defi. Unit protocol's guardian architecture is a generalized solution bringing self-custody to a wide range of asset sources. When a user deposits, trades, and withdraws BTC using Unit and Hyperliquid, they maintain full control of their assets at all times," according to OAK Research's analysis of HyperUnit.

Broader Context

HyperUnit functions as a native tokenization layer, enabling users to deposit and withdraw assets to and from Hyperliquid without relying on centralized exchanges. It aims to create a secure and self-custodial user experience. The number of whale addresses holding at least 100 BTC reached an all-time high of 19,130 in September 2025, indicating continued interest among large holders in cryptocurrency. Some whales rotated into Ethereum, acquiring 48,942 ETH valued at $215 million within four hours, part of a larger accumulation totaling 886,371 ETH worth $4.07 billion.