Curve Finance (CRV) Looks to Recover as Whale Accumulation Surges

Curve Finance (CRV) is looking to make a comeback following the $47M hack, amid sustained whale accumulation and a prevalence of large transactions.

Santiment, a notable crypto analytical resource, recently presented a detailed analysis of Curve Finance’s on-chain metrics, showing the project is seeking to recover following the discouraging bearish sentiment.

A Shot at Recovery

Now that the worst of the Curve Finance ordeal is out of the way, on-chain metrics highlighted by Santiment suggests Curve Finance might be looking to recover.

➰? #CurveFinance has had a rough go of things in 2023, & its founder's controversy hasn't helped. But the project is looking to move on, and doing so successfully may present opportunities at this level. Read our insight for our $CRV metrics breakdown. https://t.co/CF7QCfDzYM pic.twitter.com/emhsfEtB9g

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) August 11, 2023

Perhaps the most fascinating metric observed is the trend in whale accumulation. These large addresses holding 10,000 to 100 million CRV appear to have found some renewed confidence in CRV, with whale accumulation surging rapidly since the start of this month. 

Per data presented by Santiment, these addresses have continued to augment their holdings over the past two weeks. As a result, their cumulative holdings have increased from 33% of CRV’s circulating supply two weeks ago to 41% of the circulating supply.

In addition to whale accumulation, the Curve DAO Token has witnessed a slew of large transactions in recent times. 

Santiment confirmed that three of the six biggest transactions involving CRV this year occurred on August 4, shortly after the hack. Moreover, in the last seven days, the network has seen five transactions worth over $10 million.

Decent Development Amidst Decline in Selloffs

Nonetheless, it bears mentioning that, following the selloffs observed in the wake of the hack, whale transactions have seen a decline. This suggests that the distribution campaign carried out by market participants have slowed in recent times.

Santiment asserted that a resurgence of whale transactions could actually set CRV on a path to recover the losses of the past two weeks, as such transactions could be directed towards accumulation.

To sum it up, the Santiment analysis called attention to daily development activity on the Curve Finance network, which currently stands at 10.29. 

Although this value does not represent a high concentration of network development, it does indicate that developers are active on the network, essentially addressing concerns of abandonment.

The Curve Finance Ordeal

Recall that the recent Curve Finance ordeal was triggered by the July 30 hack which affected multiple liquidity pools on the protocol. Some reports suggested that the hack involved $47 million but a Chainalysis article noted that the exploiters drained $70 million from the pools.

Escalating reports of the hack had a negative impact on the Curve DAO Token (CRV), resulting in a massive drop to $0.5045 on August 1. It didn’t help that Michael Egorov, Curve Finance’s founder, was embroiled in legal controversy and was at risk of seeing his $100 million loan liquidated.

The loans were backed with CRV tokens, and with CRV’s collapse, Egorov’s positions could be wiped out should the asset drop further. This compounded investors’ angst, leading to selloffs. Egorov also had to reduce his CRV holding by selling to several industry leaders in order to stay afloat.

As of press time, the Curve DAO Token has recovered by 18.89% since dropping to $0.5054 on August 1.

At a current price of $0.6009, CRV is looking to seal a position above the $0.60 psychological threshold and leverage it as a launchpad to further recovery. The token is down 2.33% over the last week.