According to IntoTheBlock data, Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is seeing a 449.03% surge in large transaction volume, which denotes whale activity.

Large Transaction Volume estimates the total amount transacted by whales and institutional participants on a particular day. Spikes in Large Transaction Volume indicate increased activity among institutional players – either buying or selling.

In this case, Ethereum reported $10.77 billion in large transaction volume over the last 24 hours, equivalent to 3.24 million ETH in crypto terms. Ethereum whale transactions seem to be skyrocketing as spot ETF hype becomes evident on-chain. The past week saw the launch of nine new spot Ethereum ETFs in the U.S., with Ethereum whale activity soaring consequently to outperform BTC and USDT.

Most likely, the explanation for the Ethereum whale activity surge following the ETF launch might be that a decent amount of ETH was sold on the blockchain to get exposure via ETFs instead.

According to the most current CoinShares report, the Ethereum ETF launch received $2.2 billion in inflows, which were hampered by entrenched selling, with net outflows totaling $285 million.

Crypto market faces selling

Cryptocurrencies extended Monday’s sell-off as investors and traders looked ahead to central bank meetings this week.

Bitcoin declined 4.56% in the last 24 hours to $66,568, according to CoinMarketCap. Ethereum fell 1.57% to $3,330.

The Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England are all meeting this week, and traders are keeping an eye on them. The focus is on Fed Chair Jerome Powell in particular, with the hope that his comments might confirm an interest rate cut in September.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s July meeting begins Tuesday and ends Wednesday with a monetary policy announcement and press conference by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

The markets broadly expect the central bank to leave interest rates steady this week, but many investors are hopeful that policymakers will provide new signals about the outlook for rates.