Whale buy the dip layout: ETH favored, Aster and Plasma become new focal points

Despite the recent poor performance of the crypto assets market, with the price of Ethereum (Ethereum) once falling below $4,000, crypto whales have shown a strong willingness to buy against the backdrop of a 14% decline over the past month. Whales are actively accumulating ETH while setting their sights on two emerging projects with high growth potential: the decentralized perpetual futures exchange Aster, supported by CZ, and the stablecoin-focused Layer 1 blockchain Plasma (XPL), backed by well-known institutions like Peter Thiel. The concentrated activity of whales in these three assets indicates their strong confidence in the fundamental value of mature projects and the disruptive opportunities in emerging sectors.

Ethereum (ETH): Whale sees it as a temporary pullback

Despite facing short-term price pressure, the strong fundamental improvements and institutional trust make it an ideal asset for whales to "buy the dip."

· Whale accumulation data

• Large-scale accumulation: During the recent price fall, large investors have added over 406,000 ETH to their wallets, worth over 1.6 billion dollars.
• Institutional Confidence: Tom Lee's company Bitmine is said to hold nearly $9 billion worth of Ether, indicating that institutional confidence in this asset remains strong in the long term.
• Trading Volume Signal: On-chain data shows that Ethereum's average transaction fees have decreased by 61.64% over the past year, reaching approximately 0.4037 USD per transaction on September 27, significantly improving the network's accessibility and user experience.

· Fundamentals and Market Outlook

• Technical Comparison: Despite price pressures, development work continues to advance, and some market analysts compare the potential rise path of ETH to the early trajectory of Bitcoin (Bitcoin).
• Whale Viewpoint: The accumulation behavior of whales indicates that they believe this price fall is a temporary setback rather than a fundamental issue, and they are actively positioning for a potential rise later this year.

Aster: Challenging Hyperliquid's Dominance

As a new challenger in the decentralized Perptual Futures exchange (DEX) space, Aster's rapid rise and the heavyweight support behind it are attracting a significant amount of speculative capital.

· Background and Amazing Rise

• Launch date and growth: Aster was launched on September 17 and has increased by over 240% in a short period.
• Institutional Support: The project has received support from CZ, which provides important credibility and resources in the highly competitive DEX field.
• Whale Activity: Aster's whale activity is notable, with large investors purchasing over $48 million worth of tokens in just two days, demonstrating strong early interest in this emerging project.

· Market Positioning and Risk

• Main competition: Aster is positioned as a challenger to the current market leader Hyperliquid.
• Potential returns: Analysts believe that if Aster can capture even a small portion of the market share from Hyperliquid, its price may multiply from current levels. However, as a new project, it still comes with high risks. Data shows that Aster's trading volume exceeded Hyperliquid on September 24, becoming a strong dark horse in the field.

Plasma (XPL): The New Darling of Stablecoin Layer 1

Plasma (XPL) is another newcomer attracting the attention of whales, with its focus on stablecoin Layer 1 positioning and heavyweight supporters making it stand out.

· Key Data and Supporters

• Launch and Price Movement: Plasma was launched just a few days ago, and its token XPL has risen from $0.70 to $1.21.
• Institutional Endorsement: The project has received support from well-known institutions such as Peter Thiel's Founders Club, and Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino is also an advisor.
• Early Accumulation: A whale acquired tokens worth over $2.7 million during the public sale, while other investors accumulated at prices as low as $0.05/coin. Justin Sun also participated, reportedly making a quick profit of $16 million through trading XPL.

· Market Potential and Challenges

• Positioning Advantage: The focus of Plasma's stablecoin may timely meet the current market demand. Its architecture is designed to achieve high-speed payments and fee-free USDT transfers, and it integrates with the Bitcoin network to enhance security.
• High speculation: Despite strong early interest, as a brand new Layer 1 project, it still has high speculation, facing huge market competition and challenges in the future.

Conclusion

The activities of crypto whales clearly depict the current market sentiment: the accumulation of Ethereum indicates their long-term optimism and value anchoring in a mature sector; while the enthusiasm for emerging platforms like Aster and Plasma reflects their desire for high-risk, high-reward opportunities in disruptive technologies and new narratives. In the context of broader market volatility, this highly concentrated capital allocation highlights investors' strong confidence in the potential growth of these three specific areas.

Do you think that new projects like Aster and Plasma, supported by well-known "insiders", can drive the token prices in the crypto market to rise faster than the technological innovations themselves?