Ethereum Price Bounce? Whales Add $1 Billion After Selloff

Ethereum appears to be stabilizing after a sharp correction. ETH is trading near $2,950 after falling roughly 15.6% from its January highs before bouncing off key support. While the Ethereum price action still looks weak on the surface (11% down weekly), several underlying signals suggest conditions may be shifting.

A completed bearish momentum reset, aggressive whale accumulation, and a sudden recovery in network usage are now lining up. Together, these signals raise an important question: is Ethereum setting up for a stronger rebound, or is this only a short-term bounce?

Bearish Breakdown Plays Out as Volume Diverges and Whales Step In

Ethereum’s recent weakness did not come out of nowhere. Between January 6 and January 14, ETH printed a bearish RSI (relative strength index) divergence on the daily chart. While price pushed to a higher high, the RSI, a momentum indicator, formed a lower high, a setup that often signals trend exhaustion.

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That signal played out cleanly. Ethereum corrected about 15.6%, sliding into the $2,860 support zone before stabilizing.

What changed at support is important.

As prices trended lower (between January 20 and January 21), On-Balance Volume (OBV) formed a higher low, indicating that selling pressure was weakening and that larger buyers were absorbing supply rather than exiting. OBV tracks volume flow, and this type of divergence often appears near local bottoms.

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Whales appear to have reacted to that shift.

Over the past 24 hours, Ethereum supply held by whales (excluding exchanges) increased from 103.73 million ETH to 104.08 million ETH. That is an addition of roughly 350,000 ETH in a single day.

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At the current ETH price, that accumulation is worth just over $1.03 billion.

This suggests whales did not buy the top. They stepped in after the momentum reset and price tested major support, treating the correction as an entry rather than an exit. But that might not be the only reason.

Ethereum Reclaims No. 2 in Daily Unique Addresses, Beating SEI

The technical setup is not the only thing improving.

At press time on January 23, Ethereum has reclaimed the No. 2 spot in Layer-1 DUAs (daily unique addresses) behind BNB, as identified exclusively by BeInCrypto analysts. It just overtook SEI (another layer-1), which has seen strong activity recently due to gaming-related growth. opBNB (layer-2 for BNB), another frequent competitor, still remains higher.

This matters because daily unique addresses reflect actual network usage, not price speculation. Ethereum reclaiming this position signals that on-chain activity as a layer-1 is recovering even as price remains below recent highs. SEI has been Ethereum’s nemesis for quite some time now.

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Plus, Ethereum still outpaces all major layer-2 ecosystems in terms of address growth.

That recovery has already started to spill into social chatter.

Ethereum’s social dominance jumped sharply from around 0.37% to 4.43% since yesterday, briefly peaking near 5.8% before cooling. Historically, local peaks in social dominance have preceded short-term price advances for ETH. This is the same timeframe when whales picked up over $1 billion in ETH.

For example:

• On January 17, a local social dominance spike was followed by a 2.1% ETH move higher over the next sessions.
• On January 21, another spike preceded a 3.4% upside move within 24 hours.

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This does not guarantee a rally, but it shows that renewed network relevance has previously translated into short-term price follow-through. The return to No. 2 in L1 daily unique addresses (at press time) provides a fundamental reason for the rise in attention.

Ethereum Price Levels Now Hold The Key

From here, Ethereum’s structure is clear.

On the downside, $2,860 remains the critical support. This level marked the end of the 15.6% correction and is where whales stepped in aggressively. A clean loss of this zone would weaken the bullish case and open downside toward lower supports.

On the upside, ETH needs to clear $3,010, a level just 2.6% above the current price, to confirm short-term strength. A sustained move higher would then bring $3,350 into focus, a resistance zone that has capped price since mid-January.

If that level breaks, the Ethereum price could target higher extensions near $3,490 and $3,870. However, failure to hold $2,860 would shift focus back toward $2,770, invalidating the rebound thesis.