After options expiration, on-chain activity reveals significant internal divisions in the market, showing a pattern of "longs taking profits, shorts adding positions."

· Profit-taking pressure: A whale address deposited 9,700 ETH (worth approximately $28.85 million) into exchanges over the past week, realizing a profit of about $6.28 million. This indicates that some long-term holders are cashing out on rallies.
· Aggressive shorting forces: Meanwhile, the short positions in the derivatives market remain strong. A whale known as the "largest ZEC short" recently transferred 4 million USDC to the HyperLiquid platform, further increasing its ETH short position with 15x leverage. This whale currently holds an ETH short position valued at about $130 million, with unrealized profits exceeding $17 million.

This intense hedging between long and short positions suggests the market may experience continued high volatility before a clear direction is established.