Stephanie Douse 
Major Ethereum whales seem to be heavily purchasing stablecoins and some selected tokens as the crypto market drops to 2022 lows.
While this has done little to sustain prices, given that selling outnumbers purchasing, whale transactions may help to identify which tokens are on the verge of a recovery. Some major cryptos appear to have leveled off after recent losses, trading slightly above intraday lows.
According to Whalestats data, Ethereum (ETH) whales bought the ETH, USDC, and USDT the most in the last 24 hours. Volatility is driving traders towards safe-havens, which is increasing demand for stablecoins. Through the market crash, the two stablecoins have mainly maintained their peg.
Whales Acquire utility tokens
Whales acquired roughly $2 million worth of ETH on average in every transaction, according to data. Even though the token has dropped roughly 17% in the last week, this buying shows that whales believe ETH will find its bottom soon.
The imminent migration to a proof-of-stake network for ETH has also raised confidence in the token’s adoption, particularly among institutions.
Whales also bought Shiba Inu (SHIB), Chainlink (LINK), and Decentraland’s Mana (MANA), which are non-stablecoin cryptos. Both SHIB and MANA are linked with their major metaverses, which gives them some utility. LINK is a prominent player in Ethereum smart contracts, giving the token real-world use.
Terra’s UST stablecoin entered the top-10 most-purchased list for the first time since its launch, indicating that whales were buying the now depegged stablecoin in anticipation of a rebound.
Investors are mostly buying into economy-related sectors such as commodities and consumer staples, mirroring a trend seen in stock markets.
Selling still outnumbers buying
Despite occasional whale buying, overnight data suggests that the market is mostly guided by bearish sentiment. With an average of $5.5 million sold every transaction, selling volumes greatly outpaced any whale purchasing.
The price movement has reflected this, with most of the aforementioned tokens falling sharply in the last week. While the crypto market appears to be stabilizing, it is uncertain which path it will go in the near term.