Ethereum market: Are whales pessimistic?

In a particularly tumultuous crypto environment, there has recently been a rush of Ethereum whales. A trend which, according to recent reports, is not as widespread as we might have thought.

In brief

• Ethereum whales are scaling back their acquisitions, suggesting pessimism;
• A study by Santiment notes a drop in ETH investments since April 2023.

Declining popularity of Ethereum whales

Not so long ago, there was some evidence of investor interest in Ethereum’s ether (ETH). Some 94 million ETHs were acquired as institutional investors became more interested in the crypto.

This dynamic could have led us to believe that ETH was still attractive, despite the generally lackluster crypto environment. On analysis, this is not entirely true. At least, this is what a recent study by crypto data provider Santiment suggests.

The firm noted a drop in ETH acquisitions for wallets hosting between 10 and 10,000 ETH. This finding is linked to the major holders of this crypto, namely whales and sharks, to a certain extent.

Since April, these investors have reportedly limited their investments in the market’s second-largest crypto after bitcoin. Worse still, many of them have sold off, if not sold off, their assets over the last four months.

This trend is a change in the whales’ attitude to their positioning on ETH. Santiment notes that up until April 2023, investors had been particularly bullish on ETH.

This was reflected in Ethereum’s trading and exchange volumes. Data which, according to the experts, is important when analyzing ETH price dynamics over a period of time.

Oddly enough, explains Santiment, Ethereum trading and exchange volumes have fallen significantly in recent months. Particularly since November of the previous year.

Ethereum Whales and Sharks Continuously Shed ETH Holdings for Four Months Straight: Santiment https://t.co/MA0QQrWAnO

— Jose JM (@CryptoJoseJM) August 30, 2023

Ethereum ultimately unattractive?

Should we conclude from these analyses that there has been a sustained decline in interest in ETH? Brian Quinlivan, Santiment’s Marketing Director, has some reservations about answering this question.

He believes it is necessary to keep a constant watch on the crypto market to determine the potential implications of investor attitudes. According to Santiment, this is crucial to understanding the effect this development may have on the ETH price.

Given the hyper-changing context of the crypto market, Brian Quinlivan’s opinion is not without relevance. While Grayscale has won its case against the SEC, a whale has just bought itself 10,000 ETH on Uniswap. This for around 17 million USDC. Enough to rekindle investors’ enthusiasm for ether?