Key Points:
- Ethereum whales sell over 5 million ETH, impacting its price.
- Ethereum Foundation’s significant ETH sales in a bearish market.
- Ethereum ETFs’ lackluster debut in contrast to Bitcoin’s success.
Amid a downturn in the cryptocurrency market, Ethereum’s largest stakeholders, commonly referred to as whales, have been offloading their holdings, resulting in the redistribution of over 5 million ETH worth more than $8.5 billion. This trend, which began in February of this year, shows no sign of shifting toward ETH accumulation, according to data from Santiment, a prominent on-chain analytics firm, as shared by renowned cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez.
Since February 2023, #Ethereum whales have capitalized on surging prices, offloading or redistributing over 5 million $ETH — equivalent to roughly $8.5 billion.
Notably, this selling trend continues with no current indication of a shift towards #ETH accumulation yet. pic.twitter.com/Oz3Lct3hbL
— Ali (@ali_charts) October 9, 2023
The selling activity by these Ethereum whales has significantly impacted the price of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. In the past week alone, Ethereum has lost 4.4% of its value, now trading below the $1,600 mark. In contrast, Bitcoin experienced a milder decline of 1% over the same period and is currently priced above $27,250.
Over the past 12 months, Bitcoin has outperformed Ethereum in terms of price growth, with a 42% increase compared to Ethereum’s 22%, as per data from CryptoCompare.
Furthermore, it was reported by CryptoGlobe that the Ethereum Foundation, through the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Uniswap, executed its most substantial single transaction of the year by selling 1,700 Ether for $2.73 million in USDC. Spot On Chain, an on-chain monitoring service, disclosed that this sale contributed to the Ethereum Foundation’s total ETH sales for the year, which now stand at 2,262 tokens, mostly occurring before cryptocurrency market downturns.
However, data from the Ethereum blockchain reveals that the Ethereum Foundation still holds over $500 million worth of Ethereum, along with over $340,000 in wrapped Ether (WETH), $38,000 in DAI, $9,700 in Binance Coin (BNB), and various other altcoins.
This development comes shortly after the launch of Ethereum futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. According to David Duong, Head of Coinbase Research, these ETFs failed to generate the same level of excitement and trading volume as the first BTC futures ETF, ProShares’ BITO, which was introduced in October 2021. The top ETH futures ETFs collectively saw less than $1.5 million in trading volume on their debut day, a stark contrast to BITO, which witnessed over $1 billion in trading volume on its inaugural day. Moreover, the net inflow into these ETH futures ETFs was less than 2% of what BITO attracted.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Stay connected with us on Google News, Telegram, Twitter, and Facebook to stay updated on the latest developments and engaging discussions in the realm of Crypto News.
Disclaimer: Please note that the viewpoints and perspectives expressed by the author, as well as any individuals referenced in this article, are intended solely for informational purposes. They should not be construed as financial or investment advice. It’s important to acknowledge that investing in or trading cryptoassets carries inherent financial risks.