Large cryptocurrency investors, colloquially known as whales, has been accumulating the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization Ethereum ($ETH) en masse, buying up over 700,000 ETH tokens over the last three weeks in a $2.45 billion accumulation.
That’s according to data from on-chain analytics firm Santiment shared by popular cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez with his over 65,000 followers on the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
As CryptoGlobe reported earlier this month, demand for Ethereum has been skyrocketing after permanent holders accumulated 298,000 ETH worth $1.04 billion, in a single day.
That’s according to CryptoQuant’s head of research Julio Moreno, who noted on the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter) that it came close to the record daily buying, which occurred last September and saw permanent ETH holders accumulate 317,000 tokens.
The Ethereum buying activity exploded after U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler said in a budget hearing final approvals for spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could be granted by summer’s end.
Speaking to a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee in a hearing on the regulator’s budget, Gensler said the approval process was “working smoothly” after the initial go-ahead given to a group of these ETFs, referring to the SEC clearing the path for these funds.
The SEC’s approval was met with optimism in the cryptocurrency space, with the price of ETH surging around 20% in a day after the decision was revealed, while the cryptocurrency market as a whole added over $200 billion to its market capitalization.
The approval marks a significant shift for the SEC, which has historically been cautious about cryptocurrency and had been investigating whether to deem the second-largest cryptocurrency a commodity or a security.
While the exchange applications were approved, individual ETF issuers including VanEck, ARK Investments, and BlackRock still need the SEC to greenlight their registration statements before trading can begin.
Featured image via Unsplash.
