Whales Sell off Or Redistribute $1B Worth of ETH in 8 Days as Price Struggles

The massive Ethereum (ETH) distribution by key whale addresses began on December 21.

Ethereum (ETH) whale addresses holding between 10K and 100K tokens have been reducing their bags amid the overall bear market, as 880,000 ETH worth $1.04B left their cumulative balance in the space of 8 days. The distribution became apparent last Wednesday.

Seasoned analyst Ali recently highlighted the development. “Ethereum whales holding between 10,000 and 100,000 $ETH have sold or redistributed around 880,000 ETH since December 2022,” Ali disclosed in a tweet today, sharing a Santiment chart to corroborate his claim.

#Ethereum whales holding between 10,000 and 100,000 $ETH have sold or redistributed around 880,000 #ETH since December 2022. pic.twitter.com/vOA9Lt0bOH

— Ali (@ali_charts) December 29, 2022

The chart reveals a drastic decrease in the cumulative balance of ETH whales holding 10K to 100K tokens. The decline began on December 21 when ETH was consolidating between $1,206 and $1,218, following a crash to $1,165 the previous day. The combined balance of these whale addresses dipped from 31.2M tokens on December 21 to the current value of 30.32M, signifying a decrease of 880K ETH.

Such a massive decrease often indicates a wave of selloffs, especially during the lowest points of a bear market, as investors look to capitulate and salvage whatever they can. In contrast, it could also indicate a desire to redistribute their assets by transferring some tokens to other addresses.

Data from Messari, a leading crypto market intelligence provider, reveals that addresses holding at least 10K ETH tokens have decreased to 1,311 as of press time. Additionally, only 131 wallets hold at least 100K ETH. CryptoQuant data also reveals an increase in Exchange Reserve, indicating higher selling pressure on investors.

Ethereum’s Price Analysis 

Meanwhile, ETH has been underperforming with the rest of the crypto market since the crash to $1,086 last month in the wake of the FTX saga. Though the asset has managed to eclipse the $1,100 zone since then, it hasn’t picked up enough strength to conquer the $1,300 level. 

ETH’s dream to recapture $1,300 is hinged on its victory over three crucial support levels. ETH’s first support sits at $1,209, but this will only come into play once the asset has eclipsed the pivot point at $1,195. ETH currently holds a delicate position above the pivot point, trading at $1,197 as of press time.

If the asset can conquer the first significant resistance, the second resistance point at $1,230 would come into play. ETH’s third resistance is at $1,265. The asset must overcome this point if it wishes to recapture the $1,300 zone. ETH is currently up by a meager 0.10% in the past 24 hours.