By
Bena Ilyas
April 30th, 2024
This price flunctuation has prompted some large investors, commonly referred to as “whales”, to initiate a substantial sell-off of their ETH holdings.
Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest digital asset based on market capitalization, has been going through a series of price changes recently. In the past week, the value of ETH has seen a decline, dropping to its lowest point since February, which was $2,800. Although there was an effort from buyers to increase the price back up to around $3,200, it has once again declined and is currently trading around $3,000.
Whales Cash Out Millions in Ethereum Holdings
This price fluctuation has prompted some large investors, commonly referred to as “whales”, to initiate a substantial sell-off of their Ethereum (ETH) holdings. On-chain analysts have identified several notable transactions that highlight this trend.
According to a report that was shared on X by Spot On Chain, it was revealed that a participant in an Ethereum ICO (Initial Coin Offering) recently decided to sell 2,000 ETH and received 6 million USDC in return. The selling took place just some hours ago, and on average, each ETH was sold for $2,997.
An #Ethereum #ICO participant returned to sell 2,000 $ETH for 6M $USDC at $2,997 6 hours ago.
Notably, the whale received 33,213 $ETH at #Ethereum Genesis on Jul 30, 2015, at an ICO price of ~$0.31. So far, 5,110 $ETH has been deposited to #Kraken or sold via DEX at ~$2,545.… pic.twitter.com/cYpyqlPGWT
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) April 18, 2024
The report also mentioned that this particular whale wallet holder had originally received 33,213 ETH during the Ethereum Genesis on July 30, 2015. At that time, the ICO price for each coin was approximately $0.31. Since then, the whale has either deposited or sold 5,110 ETH through decentralized exchanges, with an average selling price of around $2,545. Despite this recent selling activity, the whale still possesses approximately 29,700 ETH, which is currently valued at about $89.4 million.
Another report from a crypto enthusiast and hedge fund manager, Thomas Kralow, revealed that an investor who had purchased 96,638 ETH in September 2022 has been gradually selling his holdings. Recently, this whale transferred 5,000 ETH to the popular cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. Although he still retains a substantial 76,000 ETH, valued at approximately $233.56 million, it remains uncertain whether the large wallet holder will continue selling or begin accumulating amid the ongoing price volatility.
Furthermore, on-chain data revealed that four whales collectively dumped 31,683 ETH, equivalent to $106 million. These recent sell-offs by whales have contributed to the 15% reduction in ETH’s price in the past 7 days.
Regulatory Uncertainty Fuels Whale Sell-Offs
The surge in whale sell-offs can be attributed to rumors surrounding the possible disapproval of an Ether Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). VanEck CEO Jan van Eck expressed skepticism about the SEC’s approval of the firm’s ETH ETF application. Additionally, the recent approval of a Hong Kong-based ETF failed to significantly impact the coin’s price, further fueling uncertainty.
Despite the whales’ sell-offs and the transfer of ETH to various cryptocurrency exchanges, the trading volume of the coin remains green in double-digit over the past 24 hours, with a reading of 20% at the time of writing. With the highly anticipated Bitcoin halving event looming, it remains challenging to predict whether ETH will continue its downward trend or regain its bullish momentum.