As interest in self-custody and decentralized finance (DeFi) grows in the cryptocurrency space, the largest non-exchange Ethereum ($ETH) holders, colloquially known as whales, has been steadily accumulating the second-largest cryptocurrency this year, to the point they now hold an unprecedented 31.8 million ETH, a sum valued at over $59.6 billion​.

As pointed out by crypto analytics firm Santiment, the accumulation comes at a time of recent tumult in the cryptocurrency markets, triggered by regulatory actions in the United States. On Monday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its CEO Changpeng Zhao, before suing Coinbase on Tuesday.

The shockwaves from this lawsuit were immediately felt in the crypto market, leading to what Santiment describes as the third-worst trading day of 2023 for digital assets​. The only days that saw more significant losses were March 8th and April 17th. The aftermath of this regulatory action could determine the market’s trajectory over the next one to three weeks.

Despite the SEC’s legal actions against two leading cryptocurrency exchanges, the prices of top cryptocurrency have quickly rebounded from a dip felt after these lawsuits were announced.

As CryptoGlobe reported, in an appearance on live television, SEC Gary Gensler has stated that he believes there is no need for additional digital currencies as “digital currency already exists in forms such as the U.S. dollar, the euro, and the yen.”

Notably, crypto whales have quickly started buying the dip after cryptocurrency prices crashed in light of the SEC’s lawsuits. As reported, data from popular blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain shows there were significant movements of Circle’s stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, USDC, made shortly after the news broke.

Specifically, LookonChain detailed that popular crypto liquidity Provider and trading firm Cumberland withdraw 67.9 million USDC from Circle and deposited 67.1 million USDC into Coinbase, another major cryptocurrency exchange.  

Similarly, FalconX, a digital assets and cryptocurrency trading platform, also exhibited noteworthy behavior. The company reportedly received 37 million USDC from Circle and subsequently deposited 29.5 million USDC into Binance.

Featured image via Unsplash.