On Monday, Ethereum (ETH) continued to trade within a narrow range while the market was still calm. However, institutional investors also referred to as “whales,” continued to exhibit significant volume activity by purchasing large amounts of Ethereum for Coinbase. After a week, the investment products based on Ethereum witnessed a massive outflow of $14.4 million.
Among the day’s most significant transactions, an eight-year-old Ethereum wallet paid 4,153 ETH, or around $12.17 million, to Coinbase. According to the data from Spot On Chain, the whale bought 12,427 ETH at an average price of $11 each from Poloniex eight years ago, and as a result, he experienced a growth of almost 27,000%. The wallet still has 2,566 ETH, which means a profit of around $28.5 million.
Furthermore, a major institutional player sold 30,807 ETH, which is worth $91.19 million, on Coinbase Institutional. Three more transactions followed this massive disposal, with other whales depositing over 11,000 ETH to Coinbase Institutional. Although these deposits indicate a possible sell-off, the platform also had a considerable number of whale withdrawals, in which each whale withdrew more than 7,000 ETH.
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With these changes, Ethereum products suffered a setback, with outflows worth $14.4 million last week, as CoinShares reported. This trend goes hand in hand with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) consistent hesitation to meet the applicants for ETH ETFs. According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, a more crypto-friendly SEC leadership following the US presidential elections in November may delay the approval of a spot ETH ETF until at least late 2025.
Besides Ethereum’s current problems, a hacker behind the theft of 150,000 ETH in 2017 and exploiting a weakness in Parity’s multi-sig wallet has reportedly resumed laundering the stolen assets. According to a recent transaction reported by Cyvers Alerts, the hacker sent 3,050 ETH, or around $9 million, to the cryptocurrency exchange using consolidated addresses. The hacker is still in possession of 83,017 ETH, which is worth around $246.6 million.
Technically, Ethereum has been trading sideways, particularly following last Friday’s liquidity void. As the traditional markets reopened on Monday, the price of Ethereum was still below the $3,000 mark. This price level is nearly identical to the average purchase price for the majority of short-term holders. Thus, it is a strong support level.
An 11% movement in either way could significantly affect market behavior. A fall in the price will most likely cause short-term holders to start selling, whereas an increase in the price could create bullish momentum for Ethereum. Besides, ETH liquidations have slowed down, with the numbers for Monday being $308 million, which slightly tips in favor of long positions.
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The crypto community also monitors external economic factors, such as Jerome Powell’s speech and the US CPI inflation report. These events will be the source of new market volatility, affecting Ethereum’s price dynamics.
