ETH vs TRUMP: What Whales Bought After the October 10 Crypto Crash | Research | Invesloan.com

When the market went into turmoil, whales picked their side. Not Ethereum, not Solana — but the meme coin became their top choice.

Cryptonews analyzed the top 100 tokens by market capitalization, based on CoinGecko data, excluding Bitcoin (BTC), stablecoins, and tokens linked to staking or restaking. The study covered the period from Oct. 11 to Nov. 7 and focused on whale transactions worth more than $50,000 to identify which assets attracted the most capital during the recovery phase. The data is sourced from Flipside and is based on decentralized exchange (DEX) activity.

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TRUMP Becomes the Top Whale Pick

According to Cryptonews data, Official Trump (TRUMP) ranked first by the number of large transactions (each worth over $50,000), outperforming even Ethereum (ETH) — the asset long seen as the “main” altcoin. Rounding out the top five were Tron (TRX), Chainlink (LINK), and Aerodrome (AERO).

Interestingly, all projects in the top five belong to different sectors: meme coins, DeFi, smart contracts, infrastructure, and DEXs. Yet the meme coin took the lead.

Beyond the tokens shown in the chart, whales were also actively buying several others. Among them were Aave (AAVE) with 214 large transactions, PancakeSwap (CAKE) with 93, Ethena (ENA) with 76, and Solana (SOL) with 57. The list also included Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) – 53, Pump.Fun (PUMP) – 28, Jupiter (JUP) – 20, Uniswap (UNI) – 27, Aptos (APT) – 20, Pepe (PEPE) – 16, Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) – 11, Arbitrum (ARB) – 15, Mantle (MNT) – 17, Ondo (ONDO) – 15, and Floki (FLOKI) – 13.

Overall, the distribution of whale purchases shows that their interest isn’t limited to top altcoins. They continue to explore higher-risk assets, including meme coins and emerging infrastructure projects. Still, TRUMP stands far ahead of the rest.

Ethereum Keeps Attracting Retail and Institutional Investors

While Official Trump led by the number of whale purchases, Ethereum dominated in volume buy with about $2.97 billion compared to $1.81 billion for TRUMP. This shows that despite the growing whale interest in the meme coin, ETH attracted a much broader base of investors, including retail. After the Oct. 10 crash, it once again became one of the main bets for both large and small players.

Another standout was Virtuals Protocol with around $1.05 billion in total buys, likely driven by the hype around the artificial intelligence sector. PancakeSwap (CAKE) also performed well, with total buys of around $540 million. This shows that the BNB Chain ecosystem is still in focus as activity grows around Aster (ASTER) and new Binance-based meme coins.

Zcash (ZEC) also made it into the top 10 with $323 million, followed closely by Arbitrum (ARB) and Chainlink. All three have been around for several years, suggesting that some investors may be moving back toward more reliable and established assets amid recent market instability.

Among meme coins, PUMP recorded $224 million, while Dogecoin (DOGE) came in with $48 million. The first one, Pump.Fun, likely stays attractive because of its payback system and ongoing airdrop expectations. Interest in DOGE shows a steady trend, with traders returning to older meme coins and speculating about a possible ETF.

Overall, the list is highly diverse. It includes tokens across multiple sectors, from DeFi and infrastructure projects to meme coins and AI protocols. Investor attention appears scattered, with capital flowing in many directions at once. ETH, TRUMP, and VIRTUAL remain clear leaders in overall activity.

Where Capital Flows After the Crypto Crash

Another side of the picture emerges when looking at net buy volume, which shows how much capital actually stayed or left across different tokens. The net buy volume metric shows the difference between total buys and total sells, revealing the net inflow or outflow of capital.

Starting with the most sold-off assets, ETH leads the top five most sold-off tokens list with a net outflow of about $14.6 million. Some long-term investors probably took profits or just stepped out positions. Those who bought ETH during the crash, mainly whales, are still holding. On the market, this pattern is often called “shaking out weak hands”, meaning that cautious holders exit while risk-tolerant ones accumulate.

At the same time, buy volume for ETH remains much higher, which signals demand, but weak. However, there is still no clear dominance from either buyers or sellers.

The rest of the top five includes LINK with $7.8 million in net outflows, AAVE with $6.3 million, CAKE with $5.8 million, and APT with $3 million. All of these remain highly liquid and actively traded, which makes them natural candidates for partial profit-taking during volatile periods.

On the opposite side of the chart are tokens that investors continue to accumulate. In the top five most accumulated tokens, TRUMP leads with a net inflow of around $57 million, confirming steady interest even after its price rally. VIRTUAL comes next with $7.9 million, followed by JUP, MORPHO, and ZEC.

Interest in JUP may be linked to the launch of Jupiter Lend, a program that allows users to earn passive income. According to DeFiLlama, Jupiter also remains the largest DEX on Solana by Total Value Locked (TVL). Right after JUP is MORPHO, another lending platform, which highlights the growing investor focus on projects that offer stable, if modest, yields. This suggests that amid volatility, some participants are turning to more predictable income sources and see potential in these platforms.

Such dynamics in ETH and other major tokens may indicate that investors are taking profits on small price moves, reflecting broader uncertainty in both the market and the global economic outlook.

Whale Concentration in TRUMP Suggests Insider Accumulation

A closer look at whale activity reveals that, by the number of unique buyers, TRUMP lags far behind other top tokens. Despite its high buy volume of around $1.81 billion, only 48 large wallets took part in those transactions.

In comparison, ETH saw a buy volume of $2.97 billion, but with 687 unique whales involved. This suggests that TRUMP may be accumulating in the hands of a relatively small group of investors or insiders. A previous Cryptonews report highlighted one such participant.

Some traders even call this meme coin a “family-controlled” asset linked to Trump’s circle, which makes it potentially risky. At the same time, such a high level of capital concentration could mean that the token is nearing a significant event.

For other assets, the distribution appears more balanced.

From Meme Coins to Blue Chips: How Whale Behavior Evolved

Comparing whale activity during the two market corrections on Oct. 10 and Nov. 4 shows how their strategy changed. During the first crash, whales were more active in meme coins, while also buying larger and more stable assets such as Ethereum, Aave, and Chainlink. The average trade size was over $130,000, and the biggest purchases reached $3 million.

Many investors likely saw the dip as a chance to enter proven projects and waited for a gradual recovery.

The second correction on Nov. 4 told a different story. Whales became more cautious. TRUMP led the charts with about $55 million in total buys and became the main focus of accumulation. This activity may have come from a small circle of investors or insiders rather than the broader market. ETH and LINK stayed in the top holdings, but their share of total volumes went down.

In November, whales were less aggressive with meme coins and DeFi tokens like AAVE, UNI, and CAKE. Instead, they turned back to older and more established assets. While meme coins still draw attention overall, the latest correction showed that in times of market stress, whales prefer safer bets (except for TRUMP).

Conclusion

The data shows how whales reacted to one of the most volatile periods of the year. Their behavior mixed caution and speculation. TRUMP led by the number of large buys, but most activity came from a small group of wallets. This could point to insider accumulation or coordinated moves.

ETH remained the most traded token by buy volume. It attracted both retail and institutional investors, showing that confidence in large-cap assets stays strong. LINK and AAVE also saw steady inflows, suggesting that whales prefer familiar projects when the market turns unstable.

VIRTUAL highlights another trend. The token’s rise came as AI-related assets started to grow fast. It shows that whales can quickly shift between narratives.

Overall, whales move between risk and safety depending on market sentiment. Meme coins draw attention during sharp moves, but blue-chip assets still form the base of their portfolios.

The post ETH vs TRUMP: What Whales Bought After the October 10 Crypto Crash | Research appeared first on Cryptonews.