London-Based Abraxas Capital Acquires $561M in Ethereum Over The Past Week

Abraxas Capital Management, a London-based asset management firm, has executed a significant Ethereum (ETH) acquisition, purchasing 242,652 ETH worth approximately $561 million over the past week. On May 13, the firm borrowed 240M USDT from Aave decentralized lending protocol to fund ETH purchases, according to onchain data reported by blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain.

A Strategic Buying Spree

Over the past seven days, Abraxas accumulated 242,652 ETH, with 67,799 ETH purchased in the last 24 hours alone for $176.35 million, according to Lookonchain. To support this acquisition, the firm borrowed 240 million USDT from Aave and transferred the funds to Binance, enabling large-scale ETH trades without liquidating other assets. Onchain data also shows Abraxas withdrawing significant ETH volumes from centralized exchanges, including a single transaction of 65,103 ETH worth $168.43 million from Binance in the past day, suggesting assets may be moving to private wallets for long-term holding.

Source: Arkham Intelligence

This calculated approach underscores Abraxas’s confidence in Ethereum’s market potential, likely influenced by the recent Pectra network upgrade, which improved staking efficiency and Layer 2 scalability. By leveraging Aave’s lending capabilities, the firm optimized its capital allocation, securing funds at borrowing APR of approximately 5% for USDT.

Abraxas Capital’s Profile

Headquartered in London, Abraxas Capital Management has focused on digital assets since 2017. In 2018, the firm launched the Elysium Global Arbitrage Fund, the first EU-regulated digital asset fund licensed and operational in Europe. Building on its fund management expertise, Abraxas expanded its portfolio, establishing the Alpha Bitcoin Fund in 2022 and the Alpha Ethereum Fund in 2023. According to the official statement, by 2024, the firm’s assets under management exceeded $2 billion.

The firm’s reliance on borrowed USDT introduces risks, including potential liquidations if ETH’s price drops significantly. However, Abraxas’s week-long accumulation suggests a robust risk management framework and a bullish outlook on Ethereum’s fundamentals, leveraging Ethereum’s post-Pectra upgrade momentum.

Market Context

Abraxas’s purchases occurred alongside a broader uptick in Ethereum’s price, which rose 5.1% in the past 24 hours to $2,607 as of the press time, according to CoinMarketCap. Over the past week, ETH’s price surged 41.5%, fueled by strong bullish sentiment following the Pectra upgrade. Institutional interest in Ethereum has also seen a resurgence. According to Coinglass data, on May 13, ETH ETFs from Grayscale, VanEck, and Franklin Templeton recorded net inflows totaling 5,412.64 ETH, with no ETH ETF products reporting net outflows.

Abraxas’s acquisition aligns with the community’s optimistic outlook for ETH. Nick Tomaino, founder of 1confirmation, posted on X on May 12, stating that Ethereum leads in stablecoins, DeFi, NFTs, prediction markets, decentralized identity, and social platforms. Tomaino further noted, “Ethereum is now delivering on the vision that Satoshi, Hal and the cypherpunk pioneers had for billions of people to be empowered by decentralized products.”