The Pectra upgrade of Ethereum , which is expected to have a big impact on the network, is set to launch on May 7. It is the biggest thing to happen in a while to Ethereum’s tech stack. We have seen these large-scale investors placing huge bets on EIP-6960: Ethereum’s amount of whale activity (for lack of a better term) has doubled over the past couple of weeks since it’s become clear EIP-6960 is going live. And now the question is: are they about to send ETH up or down? Price matters—that’s why we’re talking about it. Whale Activity Intensifies Ahead of Pectra Upgrade Over the past few hours, right before Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, we saw a substantial uptick in whale activity. Large addresses have been making some notable movements that have caught analysts’ eyes. In total, seven Ethereum whale addresses have moved a ridiculous amount of money—77,458 ETH—from Coinbase in the last nine hours. That amount is valued at around $140 million. Ethereum whale activity ramps up ahead of the Pectra upgrade. Will $ETH rise or fall? On May 7, Ethereum is set to implement the Pectra upgrade—its biggest technical change since March 2024. Pectra introduces a series of improvements to enhance user experience and efficiency,… pic.twitter.com/iqFGZMn2bb — Followin (@followin_io) May 7, 2025 Large transfers of cryptocurrency are usually a sign that big market maneuvers are about to happen. When whales shift around huge amounts of crypto, they’re doing one of three things, apparently: #1 holding it in anticipation of a price surge; #2 moving it to an exchange for purposes of buying or selling; or #3 (the more likely option): selling it, because they’ve moved it this week to both m and m’s exchanges. Yet, even as whale activity increases, the net effect may not be so rosy. Some whales might be gearing up for a surge in demand following Ethereum’s upcoming upgrades. But a number of whales seem to have something else in mind. As one recent example makes clear, a whale that’s been linked to the 2015 Ethereum ICO and that holds a big chunk of ETH just moved 2,500 ETH (worth around $4.59 million) to cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. This movement, which happened just 15 minutes before I finished writing this, raises quite a few eyebrows. Are these whales getting ready for a big exit? If they’re not, what’s with the big transfers? Ethereum Spot ETFs See Outflows Amid Volatility As whale movements pick up ahead of the Pectra upgrade, Ethereum continues to trade at a discount in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market. The most recent data shows total net ETF outflows of $17.84 million, with all nine Ethereum-based ETFs having registered no net inflows since the first of the year. Despite trading with very little price differentiation from Bitcoin during recent months, it seems right now that Congress’s recent Bitcoin ETF bill is doing Bitcoin ETF applicants an inadvertent favor by causing Ethereum ETFs to trade at a larger discount than might otherwise be the case. On May 6, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a total net outflow of $85.64 million, only BlackRock's ETF IBIT recorded a net inflow. Ethereum spot ETFs saw a total net outflow of $17.84 million, with all nine ETFs reporting no net inflows. https://t.co/SF4brkkBta — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 7, 2025 This might reflect a larger uncertainty that’s unsettling the whole market. The movements we’re seeing among crypto ‘whales’ (large holders of crypto) seem to indicate they’re taking up positions in Ethereum either for a future rally or a sell-off. But retail investors and institutional funds seem to be treading more cautiously. New inflows into Ethereum ETFs haven’t been forthcoming. That might be because institutional investors are waiting to see how the market shakes out post-Pectra upgrade. Market mixed signals call Ethereum’s short-term price trajectory into question. Why? Increased whale activity and a decline in institutional ETF inflows point to uncertainty about where Ethereum is headed, price-wise, in the near future. Whales and institutional investors aren’t making moves because they’re not quite sure what will happen next. The upgrade is bound to bring both technical improvements and, potentially, some risks. So, seems like they’re taking a wait-and-see approach. Looking Ahead: Will Ethereum’s Price Rise or Fall After the Pectra Upgrade? As Ethereum approaches the implementation of its much-anticipated Pectra upgrade, the big question on every investor’s mind is whether the price of ETH will go up or down. Historically, major upgrades like this one tend to generate a good deal of both hype and volatility. To be sure, the Pectra upgrade seems to be a pretty big deal. It does, in fact, seem set to make some fairly fundamental changes to how Ethereum works. As with earlier upgrades, such as The Merge in 2022, this is not just an adjustment to some lines of code or a few minor tweaks here and there. It’s a full upgrade to the Ethereum system. What’s more, if it works as intended, Pectra should increase the basic usability of Ethereum for ordinary users. Ethereum’s whale investors, like those of any other digital asset, hold a lot of power when it comes to influencing the direction a price moves. If the current accumulation trend does not reverse, and if these large wallet holders continue to hold and even add to their already large positions, it could set Ethereum up for a nice price appreciation run. On the other hand, if these whales get nervous over the potential impacts of the Shanghai upgrade, and especially if they get nervous over the impacts of the upgrade on the market as a whole, and actually start to sell, then look out below! In the coming days, the market’s reaction to the Pectra upgrade will be under scrutiny. Will the technical improvements Ethereum has made be enough to incite a rally, or will the uncertainty surrounding whale activity and institutional hesitation lead to a temporary price dip? Time will tell. But one thing seems certain: the next few weeks are going to be very important in determining Ethereum’s direction in the short-term market. To sum up, as Ethereum gears up for its biggest overhaul in more than a year, it’s clear that both whale and institutional activity has been painting a portrait of a market stuck between two diverging paths. These current big player moves—and the potential reasons behind them—give investors a lot to mull over as they try to figure out what the next couple of weeks have in store for both the network and its native cryptocurrency. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services. Follow us on Twitter @nulltxnews to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, and Metaverse news !
