ETH drops 0.61% in 15 minutes: whale concentrated selling triggers short-term pressure

From 15:00 to 15:15 (UTC) on April 29, 2026, ETH’s return within the 15-minute window reached -0.61%. The price fell from 2301.14 USDT to 2283.33 USDT, with a 0.77% range, and clear short-term selling pressure appeared.

The main driver of this deviation was whale addresses concentrating deposits into exchanges and rapidly liquidating ETH. On-chain monitoring shows that whale addresses (single addresses holding over 10,000 ETH) saw net outflows of approximately 21,000 ETH during this window—an increase of marked significance compared with the previous hour. At the same time, multiple large ETH transfers of more than $10 million occurred, and some of them went directly to the wallets of centralized exchanges.

In addition, the decline in liquidity and derivatives liquidations created a resonant effect. On DEXs, mainstream DEXs such as Uniswap and Curve recorded an approximate 12% increase in ETH-related trading volume in the 15:00–15:15 window compared with the prior cycle, but trading depth decreased and slippage expanded noticeably. In the derivatives market, some large long contracts were liquidated when spot prices fell, and the number of liquidation events was about 15% higher than the daily average, forming a negative feedback loop. Net outflows of stablecoins also indicate that funds are moving toward defense overall, and market risk appetite has declined.

Attention should be paid to the risk of short-term volatility. Around 2300 USDT is a key support level; if whale selling continues, it may further amplify price fluctuations. It is recommended to monitor on-chain activity related to large transfers, changes in DEX liquidity depth, and liquidation activity in the derivatives market to guard against cascading risks triggered by liquidity exhaustion.