Whale and ETFs move 113,000 ETH, about $260M, to exchanges

On May 8, an address linked to Garrett Jin deposited about $178 million worth of ether to Binance while BlackRock and Fidelity transferred a combined 35,394 ETH to Coinbase Prime. The three transfers pushed aggregate flows to exchange-linked platforms above 113,000 ETH, roughly $260 million at current prices.

BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust moved 11,475 ETH, valued near $26.3 million, to Coinbase Prime about three hours before the Binance deposit. Fidelity followed with 23,919 ETH, about $54.4 million, roughly an hour later. The timing put the institutional transfers within a short window around the whale deposit.

On-chain analysis identifies the large Binance depositor as the address tagged #BitcoinOG1011, linked to Garrett Jin, the former BitForex chief executive. That wallet still holds 303,618 ETH, worth about $692.5 million, and 9,343 bitcoin. Two days before the May 8 deposit, the same address moved 165,000 ETH to Binance. Overall, the wallet has reduced its ether holdings by more than 20% in recent activity. The address’s recorded history includes a $735 million short position in bitcoin placed before the October 2025 market drop and several rotations between bitcoin and ether through 2026.

U.S. spot ether ETFs recorded $103.5 million in net outflows on May 7. Fidelity’s FETH led redemptions at $62.26 million and BlackRock’s ETHA logged $26.31 million. ETF issuers and custodians use Coinbase Prime for operational flows such as redemption baskets, custody reassignments, and transfers between authorized participants; those operational transfers do not by themselves reveal whether assets will be sold on spot markets.

Ethereum traded near $2,289 at the time of the transfers. On-chain data cannot determine the intentions behind the moves. Market participants are expected to monitor daily ETF flow reports and exchange trade data for confirmation of any trading activity tied to these transfers.