Ethereum price dips as whales off-load the altcoin for short-term gains
The total number of wallets containing 1,000 Ethereum or more has dropped significantly over 2021.
- Technical analysts believe there is a possibility of Ethereum dropping as low as AUD$4,400 in the near term.
- Ethereum’s market dominance index (DI) currently stands at 19.1%.
- Kraken CEO Jesse Powell revealed his company’s plans to start issuing loans against privately held non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by early 2022.
The last 7-day stretch has been quite tumultuous for Ethereum (ETH). The altcoin seemingly regained support around the $4,000 range, only to fall back again. As a result, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by total market capitalization has registered monthly losses of over 10%. At press time, ETH is trading at $3,752.
Elaborating on Ethereum’s ongoing financial descent, on-chain data released by Glassnode shows that whales have been dumping the altcoin ever since it dipped below the $4,000 range recently. The total number of wallet addresses holding at least 1,000 ETH continues to dip, reaching its lowest ever levels since 2017.
As the number of ETH whales declines, experts believe the trend may indicate a lack of investor confidence in the digital asset. The Glassnode study shows that the number of Ethereum addresses holding 10,000 ETH or more — worth approximately $40 million, representing a section of individuals who are the altcoin’s most hardcore backers — has also dipped by nearly 4.5%.
Independent analyst Pentoshi believes that ETH may have finally found its local bottom, even though some technical indicators suggest that the altcoin may dip as low as $3,200 in the near term. On a cautious note, he added:
“I don’t like when the market gives these many opportunities to buy an area with important historical context like this. Would rather pay for confirmation.”
New investors continue to accumulate ETH
Despite seasoned veterans cashing out their ETH holdings in recent weeks for near-term gains, Glassnode researchers revealed that the total number of wallet addresses with a non-zero ETH balance — or storage units with at least 0.01 ETH — is currently at an all-time high at 71.23 million.
Even the number of wallets in possession of at least 0.1 ETH, worth approximately $400, has more than doubled over the past year, jumping from 3.62 million to a little over 6.4 million.
DeFi tokens provide shelter from the storm
As the market continues to face a massive drawdown, with many prominent altcoins losing a lot of value, the decentralized finance (DeFi) market continues to accrue value. OG Fan Token, Aragon, QuickSwap and Harvest Finance logged gains of 31%, 32%, 35% and 121%, respectively.
Lastly, Jesse Powell, co-founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, revealed in a recent interview that his firm will soon launch a fully functional non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that allows clients to borrow money against their personal NFT holdings. It is estimated that Kraken will make its much-hyped NFT debut sometime during Q1 2022.
Interested in cryptocurrency? Learn more about the basics with our beginner’s guide to Bitcoin, dive deeper by learning about Ethereum and see what blockchain can do with our simple guide to DeFi.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing.
