Sorting out 9 institutions that transferred large amounts of ETH to CEX: Nearly 8.6 billion dollars transferred in the past two months

Author: Nancy, PANews

In the past two months, nine institutions have transferred over $8.58 billion in large amounts of ETH to CEX. Among them, Grayscale, Wintermute, and the Arbitrum Foundation are the main contributors, with ETH outflows accounting for over 80% of the total; while Grayscale, Cumberland DRW, and Jump Trading have higher average deposit prices, the Ethereum Foundation is closer to its peak in this phase.

The unsatisfactory price performance has plunged Ethereum into a storm of public opinion, and at the same time, several institutions have begun to frequently deposit ETH into CEX (centralized exchanges).
This article reviews the nine institutions that have made large ETH deposits to CEX in the past two months (based on public addresses, data cutoff time from July 10 to September 9), which collectively transferred over 2.919 million ETH to CEX, worth over $8.58 billion. Among them, Grayscale, Wintermute, and the Arbitrum Foundation are the main contributors, with ETH outflows accounting for over 80% of the total. From the perspective of transfer scale and price, the Arbitrum Foundation, Grayscale, and Metalpha have the highest average deposit amounts to CEX, while Grayscale, Cumberland DRW, and Jump Trading have relatively higher average deposit prices, and the Ethereum Foundation is closer to its peak in this phase.

Grayscale

Since the launch of the Ethereum spot ETF in the U.S., ETHE has shown a significant net outflow trend, and Grayscale's Ethereum holdings have continuously shrunk. In the past two months, Grayscale has transferred approximately 1.158 million ETH to CEX, with a cumulative value of $2.68 billion. Among them, August was the month with the largest monthly inflow for Grayscale, with ETH worth over $710 million deposited into CEX; July 22 saw the largest single-day inflow during this period, with ETH worth over $1 billion being transferred, which was said to be preparation for Grayscale's Ethereum spot ETF launched on July 23.

At the same time, Grayscale's outflow frequency has also been high and large in scale, transferring to Coinbase a total of 96 times during this period, which means the institution conducts at least 1-2 operations on average every day, with an average deposit amount of about 12,063 ETH per transaction. The average price of Grayscale's outflows is about $3,180, close to Ethereum's phase high of $3,500 in the past two months.

Wintermute

In recent months, Wintermute has begun to make large deposits of various cryptocurrencies to exchanges, with positions now primarily in stablecoins. During these two months, Wintermute has cumulatively transferred over 952,000 ETH to Binance at an average price of $2,800, worth about $2.66 billion. The largest single transfer occurred on September 7, when Wintermute deposited 46,947 ETH (worth over $100 million). In terms of transfer frequency, Wintermute averages at least 5 to 6 transfer transactions each time, with an average deposit amount of 2,876 ETH.

It is worth mentioning that the founder of Wintermute denied rumors of selling ETH in August and stated that they have been buying Ethereum recently. Some market views also suggest that large ETH transfers to exchanges may be for conducting coin-based contract trading.

Arbitrum Foundation

The Arbitrum Foundation has cumulatively transferred nearly 306,000 ETH to Binance at a price of $2,530, worth $770 million. Although the Arbitrum Foundation's ETH operation frequency is relatively lower than other institutions, with only 17 transfers, its average deposit amount per transaction reaches 19,124 ETH. The large ETH outflows from the Arbitrum Foundation mainly occurred in September, with over 37,000 ETH (over $360 million) flowing out in just 9 days.

Cumberland DRW

Cumberland, a cryptocurrency liquidity provider under high-frequency trading firm DRW, has deposited nearly 137,000 ETH to Coinbase or Binance over the past two months at an average price of about $3,000, worth over $410 million. In terms of operation frequency, Cumberland basically makes one ETH transfer to exchanges every two days, with an average price of $3,000 and an average deposit amount of 2,876 ETH per transaction. As of September 9, Cumberland still holds over 9,300 ETH, worth about $21 million.

Jump Trading

Recently, Jump Trading has been continuously redeeming ETH staking tokens. In the past two months alone, Jump Trading has withdrawn over 130,000 ETH to exchanges such as Binance, LMAX Digital, and OKX, with a cumulative value of over $400 million. Moreover, Jump Trading's ETH operations are exceptionally frequent, with large ETH deposits reaching 152 times, conducting at least 2 to 3 operations each time, with an average price of $3,120 and an average amount of about 854 ETH.

Metalpha

Hong Kong asset management company Metalpha was jointly established by Ant Pool and Longyun International, receiving a $5 million investment from Bitmain last year. Starting in August this year, Metalpha has been gradually redeeming ETH staking tokens and making large transfers to Binance, depositing over 83,000 ETH in just over a month, with a cumulative amount exceeding $200 million. In terms of deposit frequency and amount, Metalpha's average transfer amount is about 6,925 ETH, with an average price of about $2,410.

Amber Group

Market maker Amber Group is also one of the main sources of ETH inflows to CEX, starting intensive ETH deposit operations in mid-August. According to statistics, Amber Group has transferred over 70,000 ETH to Binance through at least 23 transactions in the past two months, with an average price of $2,800, worth about $200 million.

Galaxy Digital

Due to the decline in cryptocurrency asset prices, Galaxy Digital's net loss in the second quarter of this year was nearly four times that of the same period last year, reaching $170 million. In the past two months, Galaxy Digital has successively deposited nearly 45,000 ETH to Binance, Coinbase, and Gemini, with a total value of about $130 million, half of which was withdrawn in July. In terms of average deposit price, Galaxy Digital's ETH average is $3,000, higher than Ethereum's current price.

Ethereum Foundation

Recently, the Ethereum Foundation has been embroiled in controversy due to frequent ETH sales and transparency issues regarding expenditures. From mid-August to mid-September, the Ethereum Foundation transferred over 35,000 ETH (worth nearly $100 million) to exchanges such as Kraken and Binance through 7 transactions. The average transfer price of the Ethereum Foundation's ETH is $2,680, close to the high point of $2,800 during this phase, which can be seen as a reaffirmation of its "top escape signal."