Every Ethereum Whale Cohort Just Went Underwater for the First Time Since 2019 — Here’s Why

On June 26, 2026, a milestone that had not occurred since 2019 arrived for Ethereum: every category of large holder — commonly known as whales — was sitting on unrealized losses. CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost reported that wallets holding 1,000–10,000 ETH, 10,000–100,000 ETH, and more than 100,000 ETH all had negative unrealized profit ratios. Even during the brutal 2022 bear market, the largest whales (100k+ ETH) had remained profitable. The moment marked a psychological breaking point for the market, and it did not happen in isolation. A dense cluster of catalysts — dormant wallet reactivations, a leveraged whale on the brink of liquidation, macro headwinds, and extreme fear — converged to create the selloff of the year for ETH.

The Numbers: Price Action and Market Snapshot

ETH traded in a compressed range between roughly $1,510 and $1,590 on June 26, 2026. It opened near $1,564.86, slid to around $1,543 by mid-session, and closed near $1,564–$1,584. The daily decline was modest — roughly 1% — but the context was brutal: ETH was down 7.7% to 9.6% over the prior seven days, and down 21.9% since June 1.

Metric	Data
Open (June 26)	~$1,564.86
Intraday low	~$1,512.79
Mid-session (8:15 AM ET)	~$1,543.32
Close (June 26)	~$1,564.84 / ~$1,584
7-day change	-9.63% to -7.74%

Technically, ETH was trading below all major daily moving averages, with the daily RSI at 29.47 — oversold, but without any bullish divergence to suggest a reversal. Analysts described the structure as "sellers firmly in control" with "no floor in sight."

The First Catalyst: Dormant Wallet Reactivations

The most dramatic on-chain event on June 26 was the sudden reactivation of four Ethereum OG wallets that had been dormant for eight years. According to Lookonchain data, these wallets collectively sold 33,623 ETH within roughly four hours at an average price of ~$1,560 — worth about $52.5 million. They had originally accumulated the ETH in 2018 at ~$830, netting a ~$27.4 million profit, but the sheer volume and speed of the dump added to market angst.

This was not an isolated event. Earlier in June, a dormant wallet linked to Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin moved 80,001 ETH (~$121.6 million) after more than three years of inactivity. Another 3-year-dormant wallet sold 10,000 ETH worth ~$17.7 million at $1,772. An 11-year-old pre-mine wallet also reactivated in late May. Each dormant wallet waking up — especially those that had survived multiple bull markets without selling — signaled to the market that the oldest, most patient hands were capitulating.

The Second Catalyst: A Leveraged Whale on the Brink

One of the largest single positions on-chain was held by a BIT-linked whale who had accumulated 120,000 ETH across four wallets at an average entry price of ~$2,265. By June 25, that position was facing an estimated $77 million unrealized loss. The danger was acute because the liquidation prices were set at $1,059–$1,175 — meaning a further drop of roughly $300 from the $1,550 level would have triggered forced selling of the entire position, potentially cascading into broader liquidation events.

Just the day before, on June 25, the largest single on-chain liquidation on the Hyperliquid platform was a high-leverage ETH long whale that was forcibly liquidated four times in a row, clearing $14.11 million. Three major ETH whales collectively faced ~$537 million in liquidation risk across 345,000 ETH positions as of early June. The market was sitting on a powder keg of forced sell orders.

The Third Catalyst: Broader Macro and Market Weakness

The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index — the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge — was released on June 25, contributing to a risk-off mood across risk assets. Bitcoin opened below $60,000 on June 26, dragging the entire crypto market down.

Perhaps the most symbolic moment came when Tether's market cap briefly surpassed Ethereum's on June 26: USDT at $186.06 billion versus ETH at $185.66 billion. This was a stark visual of capital flight from ETH into stablecoins, a sign of investors rotating out of the second-largest cryptocurrency entirely.

The Fear & Greed Index at 13 reflected panic-level bearishness. ETH had lost more than 60% from its peak and was significantly underperforming Bitcoin in 2026. From mid-June levels around $1,800, ETH dropped to the $1,510s by June 26 — a roughly 16% decline in just over two weeks.

Why All Three Whale Tiers Are Underwater Now

The price of ETH trading near $1,550 was simply below the average cost basis of all three whale tiers. CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost reported unrealized profit ratios of -0.26 for the 1,000–10,000 ETH group, -0.21 for the 10,000–100,000 ETH group, and -0.05 for the 100,000+ ETH group. The last time all three cohorts were collectively underwater was 2019, when ETH was trading below $200. The scale of the unrealized losses, according to some analysts, was comparable to levels seen near previous market bottoms. Whether that pattern repeats or deepens will depend on whether the six catalysts that created this moment — whale losses, dormant wallet sales, leveraged liquidations, PCE-driven macro, stablecoin capital flight, and extreme fear — resolve or intensify.