As panic exits the market, strategic accumulation appears to be taking its place. Whale activity began with large Ethereum [ETH] withdrawals from OKX hot wallets, where multiple tranches moved within hours. Soon after, similar outflows emerged from Binance, reinforcing a coordinated off-exchange migration. Finally, Ethereum’s derivatives structure weakened as the February 2026 sell-off unfolded. Open Interest trended lower, falling into approximately the $24 billion–$36 billion range after sharper peaks earlier in the cycle. Source: CoinGlass Multi-day contractions followed, reflecting active deleveraging rather than fresh positioning. As leverage flushed, long liquidations accelerated, with over $1 billion in long exposure erased during the crash phase. Source: CoinGlass Funding rates then flipped negative and remained suppressed, hovering near –0.003% to deeper prints in capitulation windows. This indicated that bearish positioning was dominant while long positions paid to maintain exposure. Meanwhile, liquidation maps underlined long wipes outweighing short closures. Source: CoinGlass Together, derivative contraction aligned with falling exchange reserves, reinforcing real spot tightening while also sustaining medium-term squeeze potential. This, despite near-term volatility risk.