A large cryptocurrency holder, colloquially referred to as a whale, recently transferred 16,449 Ether ($ETH), valued at roughly $50.3 million, out of leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance exchange into self-custody.
The move came as the price of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization recovered from a slump seen earlier this month to climb above the $3,000 mark, and at a time in which spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are expected to soon start trading in the United States.
According to on-chain analytics firm Spot On Chain, this movement marked the first major Ether accumulation for this particular whale, with the transferred funds being sent to a new wallet, potentially suggesting a long-term holding strategy rather than an immediate sale.
The introduction of an ETF is expected to attract more institutional investors to Ether, potentially leading to a price increase. The cryptocurrency is at the time of writing trading at $3,100 after losing nearly 9% of its value over the past week amid a wider cryptocurrency market downturn.
Analysts expect spot Ether ETFs to be approved as soon as this week, with various issuers having recently filed amended S-1 forms. These amended filings, however, don’t contain fee information, which may mean there will be another round of filings.
Notably, long-term Ethereum investors are now holding around 78% of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply, which means that buyers who have been holding onto their funds for more than a year now control the majority of circulating ETH.
That’s according to data from on-chain analysis firm IntoTheBlock, which revealed that long-term holders (LTH) recently added more to their wallets as the price of the cryptocurrency dropped amid a wider market downturn.
These long-term investors are less likely to sell their coins compared to those who have held them for a shorter period. The trend of LTH dominance is seen as a bullish sign for Ethereum, suggesting growing confidence among investors, with the significant concentration they now have effectively taking a significant amount of the cryptocurrency out of circulation, limiting potential downward pressure on the price.
Featured image via Unsplash.
