Ethereum’s latest rally ran into resistance Friday as crypto market maker Wintermute transferred roughly $160 million of ETH to Binance and Coinbase, adding potential sell-side supply just as the token approached its highest level since January.
Wintermute moved 61,847 ETH, valued at approximately $160.3 million, from one of its active wallets to the two exchanges over a three-hour period on September 11. On-chain tracker Lookonchain first flagged the transactions, while Arkham data linked the addresses to Wintermute.
ETH had opened the session around $2,437 before surging to an intraday high near $2,667. It later retreated toward $2,540 while still holding a gain of roughly 3% for the day.
The timing attracted attention because moving cryptocurrency onto exchanges can make it available for sale. But the transfer alone does not prove Wintermute sold the ETH. As a major market maker, the firm routinely moves assets between exchanges for liquidity management, hedging and settlement.
That makes the price reaction more useful than the wallet movement by itself.
Ethereum failed to hold its push above $2,600 after the transfer and the market’s earlier short squeeze began to unwind.
Leverage Amplified Both Sides of the Move
Crypto derivatives markets experienced another heavy round of forced liquidations during the session.
About $758 million of leveraged positions were liquidated across the broader crypto market over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data cited by Crypto Economy. Shorts accounted for roughly $412 million and longs about $346 million, with Ethereum generating approximately $307 million of the total liquidations.
The positioning flipped quickly.
During a four-hour period around Wintermute’s transfers, about 92% of liquidations were long positions, showing how rapidly the rally shifted from squeezing bearish traders to punishing investors who had chased prices higher.
That volatility followed a strong stretch for Ethereum. Earlier this month, ETH had completed a 37% advance over ten trading days before beginning to consolidate. Reuters technical analysis this week identified resistance near the $3,040 to $3,060 area if the broader breakout resumes, while a drop beneath roughly $2,350-$2,360 would weaken the bullish setup.
The immediate battle is much closer.
Crypto Economy cited liquidation data showing heavy leveraged positioning around $2,417 on the downside and $2,669 on the upside. Those levels can move quickly as traders open and close positions, but Friday’s $2,667 peak landed almost directly against that upper concentration.
ETF Demand Offers a Better Signal Than One Wallet Transfer
One piece of the market was notably supportive Friday: U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $216.4 million of net inflows.
BlackRock’s ETHA led with $148.8 million, while Fidelity, Bitwise and several other funds also attracted money. The inflow followed a $29.9 million withdrawal on September 10 and was the strongest daily total since late August.
Those flows complicate a simple bearish interpretation of Wintermute’s transfer.
A $160 million exchange deposit may create additional available supply, but more than $200 million simultaneously entered U.S. Ethereum ETFs. The two flows are not directly comparable — market-maker inventory movements serve different purposes from ETF subscriptions — but the ETF data show that institutional demand had not disappeared as ETH approached resistance.
The macro backdrop is less straightforward.
Crypto Economy attributed Ethereum’s rally to softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data, but official figures were not broadly softer than forecasts. Headline CPI rose 0.4% in August, matching consensus, while core CPI increased 0.3%, above the 0.2% economists had expected. Annual headline inflation stood at 3.4%.
Those numbers increased expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike at the September 15-16 meeting rather than easing them.
Ethereum nonetheless advanced alongside a broader rebound in risk assets Friday, showing that crypto demand remained resilient even as Treasury yields stayed elevated.
The Fed decision now becomes the cleaner catalyst.
ETH has already shown it can push through the mid-$2,600s, but Friday’s rejection shows buyers have not established control there yet. A sustained break above that area would clear the same zone that triggered heavy short-liquidation risk this week, while a retreat toward the mid-$2,300s would challenge the bullish structure that developed after August’s rally.
The more important confirmation may come from flows rather than a single price print. If Ethereum ETFs continue attracting capital while ETH retests $2,600-$2,670, the rally would have stronger support from spot demand. If ETF inflows fade and exchange deposits continue building, Friday’s rejection may prove more significant than the initial breakout attempt.