Fidelity, a leading asset management firm, recently transferred a substantial amount of Ethereum to Coinbase, stirring up speculation of a potential sell-off. Ethereum, alongside most other cryptocurrencies, has experienced significant price retractions over the past few days. In fact, the top-ranking altcoin has seen a 13% correction in just three days, surrendering all gains it had accumulated earlier in the month.
During this period of price turbulence, major Ether holders have been moving considerable portions of their holdings to exchanges, contributing to the prevailing bearish sentiment. Data provided by on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain indicates that Fidelity, an issuer of Ethereum spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), has transferred a sizable amount of Ethereum to Coinbase.
According to Lookonchain, which cited data from Arkham, Fidelity has been moving Ethereum via Cumberland, its liquidity provider for its Ethereum spot ETF product. The asset manager reportedly moved approximately 65 million ETH to Coinbase within a span of 34 hours.
Cumberland facilitated the transfer, starting with 20,000 ETH ($66.62 million) on January 8. Almost 24 hours later, a wallet associated with Cumberland DRW moved an additional 11,250 ETH ($36.94 million). The final transfer consisted of 22,500 ETH ($73 million) executed over two transactions by 19:35 (UTC) to Coinbase. The wallet currently holds 1,474 ETH ($4.8 million).
Intriguingly, the Ethereum Foundation also participated in the sell-offs. Data from Arkham shows that the Foundation sold 100 ETH through the CoW Protocol when Ethereum was trading at $3,363 per coin. The address received $336,300 DAI in return, which was subsequently transferred to another wallet associated with the Foundation.
These significant sell-offs have incited fear of a potential further decline in the market. Market observers are particularly worried that these sales could hinder any expectations of a near-term recovery, especially in light of the current macroeconomic challenges.
Despite these sales, Fidelity maintains a bullish stance on Ethereum, as evidenced in its 2025 outlook report titled “2025 Look Ahead.” The report underscores Fidelity’s positive views on the future growth of Bitcoin and Ethereum. It highlights the promising long-term impact of the Deneb-Cancun upgrade, the role of L2s on the Ethereum network, and upcoming upgrades to keep an eye on.
The report also draws a comparison between Ethereum and Solana, stating that despite Solana’s recent impressive performance in on-chain activities and revenue, Ethereum still holds the upper hand in terms of total value locked (TVL) and developer preference.
