The latest decline in the Ether ratio continues a trend that began more than a year ago
The Ethereum network is being dominated by crypto whales. These powerful people have a huge impact on the crypto market dynamics due to their large holdings of Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network.
As significant token holders, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, shifted assets to crypto exchanges, presumably as a prelude to selling, the ether-to-bitcoin ratio fell to a 14-month low. According to TradingView statistics, ETH-BTC fell to roughly 0.0602 on Tuesday, its lowest level since July.
The recent price movement prolonged a trend that began in September 2022, confirming some analysts’ negative projections for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Marcus Thielen, head of strategy and research at Matrixport, stated on CoinDeskTV on Monday that Ethereum’s protocol revenues have been declining for the previous three months, and that BTC will continue to outperform the broader crypto market, including ETH. Popular crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen, proprietor of IntoTheCryptoverse, stated in an X post that a probable breakdown in ETH’s pricing versus BTC is possible.
Large Ethereum Investors on the Move:
The current price drop came as some prominent investors, also known as whales, recently transferred a total of $60 million ETH to crypto exchanges, prompting concerns about further price falls. Market participants pay close attention to whales’ on-chain actions since they are thought to be well-informed and have a significant impact on the market. Depositing assets on an exchange typically indicates a desire to sell, whilst withdrawals indicate a desire to accumulate.
According to blockchain data compiled by security firm PeckShield, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin transferred 300 ETH – around $493,000 – to Kraken on Tuesday. While the deposit is minimal, Given Buterin’s standing for Ethereum, it sparked speculation among crypto enthusiasts. Another significant holder has transferred 30,000 ETH to crypto exchanges Binance, OKX, and KuCoin in the last four days, according to blockchain expert Lookonchain.
Lookonchain also noted that a crypto wallet that purchased tokens from Ethereum’s initial coin offering (ICO) nine years ago deposited 6,000 ETH – just short of $10 million to Kraken on Monday. During the ICO, this entity acquired approximately 255,000 ETH, which is today worth $423 million, according to Lookonchain. Given that the token’s initial price was roughly 31 cents, selling the coin now at $1,650 would result in a profit of 527,000%.
