Buoyed by the positive news of Trump’s election, the cryptocurrency market celebrated with Ethereum surging by 13.18%, surpassing Bitcoin’s gains. However, a whale took advantage of the situation, selling Ethereum worth $24.03 million, sparking concerns over whether a short-term peak has been reached.
(Background Summary: ETH/BTC fell below 0.035 to a new 3-year low; can Trump’s election save Ethereum?)
(Additional Background: Four major whales sold $600 million of ETH in a single month; can Ethereum’s upcoming Pectra upgrade be its savior?)
With the crypto-friendly Trump elected and uncertainty from the presidential election alleviated, cryptocurrencies experienced a celebratory rally, with Ethereum seeing rare gains surpassing Bitcoin. According to Binance spot market data, Ethereum was trading at only $2,600 yesterday (6th) when Bitcoin broke through $75,000; even as Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $76,400 at around 4 a.m., Ethereum only neared $2,700.
However, as Bitcoin’s rally paused, Ethereum continued to surge, reaching a high of $2,837.2 at around 9:30 a.m. today and is currently reported at $2,817.33, up more than 13.18% in the past 24 hours. This reversed the ETH/BTC ratio’s continued decline to a new low, now reported at 0.03729, up 3.55% in the past 24 hours.
ETH Price Trend Chart
Whales Cashing in on the Surge
As a leading altcoin, Ethereum experienced a significant surge not seen in a long time, and with Bitcoin’s market dominance remaining above 60%, there is anticipation for the arrival of “altcoin season.” However, ancient whales began offloading at this time. According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin’s monitoring this morning, an address that accumulated 11,004.9 ETH at $3.45 each eight years ago ended its long dormancy today and started selling off these ETH. From 8 a.m., the whale sold 8,699 ETH within two hours, converting them into $24.03 million USDC, at an average price of $2,762.
Additionally, according to Ai Yi’s monitoring, an Ethereum ICO whale holding 150,000 ETH reportedly sold 15,000 ETH yesterday (6th), worth approximately $39.38 million. Since September 22, this whale has cumulatively sold 65,000 ETH, worth about $164 million. Although whale sell-offs do not necessarily mean Ethereum cannot rise, the continued reduction in whale holdings raises concerns over whether Ethereum’s current price has reached a short-term high.
Whale Selling ETH Detected by Yu Jin This Morning
Ethereum’s Potential Catalysts
Looking ahead to Ethereum’s prospects, one of the most anticipated short-term positives is the Pectra upgrade. This upgrade includes the Prague (execution layer) and Electra (consensus layer) updates, expected to launch in the first quarter of 2025. DeFi analysts pointed out that significant updates in the Pectra upgrade include:
– Account abstraction: Simplifying wallet management processes, significantly enhancing user experience;
– Staking optimization: Offering more flexible options for smaller-scale stakers;
– Scalability improvements: Expanding blob capacity to 2-3 times the original size.
Addressing criticisms that L2 development leads to decreased mainnet revenue and ETH inflation, Federico Brokate, Vice President of 21Shares, stated there is no need to worry. He believes this is similar to Amazon’s consecutive quarterly losses in the 1990s. He argues that through L2 scaling strategies, Ethereum is attracting millions of new users at low cost, and eventually, the fees L2 acquires will become “large enough” to restore Ethereum mainnet revenue to pre-Dencun upgrade levels.
Ethereum’s ecosystem boasts top-tier development teams and continuous technological innovations, maintaining dominance in the DeFi sector. Especially amidst current popular application narratives, the development prospects of RWA (Real World Assets) are considered vast, with the main application scenarios also focusing on the Ethereum mainnet. Additionally, the Ethereum Foundation hired five full-time researchers in mid-October, focusing on exploring “emerging applications” on Ethereum, which is also part of market expectations.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin continues to provide insights into the technical roadmap. He recently shared his goals and implementation methods for the Merge, Surge, Scourge, Verge, Purge, and Splurge phases, which will have a profound impact on Ethereum’s future. Particularly in the Surge phase, he emphasized that L1+L2 collaboration will enable Ethereum to reach 100,000 transactions per second, integrate into a unified ecosystem, and further enhance the mainnet’s processing capacity.
?Related Reports?
Vitalik’s Bold Statement: Show Some Respect! The Ethereum Foundation’s ETH Sale is Not Cutting Losses, It’s Ensuring Operation and Development.
Is Ethereum Beyond Saving? 21Shares Refutes: ETH Has Huge Potential, Like Amazon in the 1990s!
Bitcoin Breaks $76,400 to a New High! Ethereum Surpasses $2,800, Trump’s Victory Rally, U.S. Stocks Soar Together.