Ethereum experienced a dramatic decline as a $111.89 million whale exit triggered widespread market panic. According to AMBCrypto, an OTC whale sold 42,005 ETH worth $111.89 million and now holds only 9,996 ETH worth $26.8 million. The whale had been accumulating during the recent rally before panicking and exiting after holding for just a few days, citing concerns about trend sustainability. This massive exit contributed to a broader market selloff that saw the cryptocurrency market cap fall 3% and Ethereum plunge from $2,788 to a low of $2,635.
The market selloff resulted in over $96 million worth of long liquidations and total liquidations hitting $114 million, as reported by AMBCrypto. The price drop turned into a bloodbath, especially for long positions, with investors hurriedly closing their positions including whales, which further intensified downside pressure. Exchange activity reflected this whale behavior, with Ethereum Exchange Netflow turning positive at 10.6k ETH after holding negative for five consecutive days. This rising netflow suggests a significant share of supply flowed into exchanges, pointing to short-term pressure as sellers exited fearing another drop.
The broader whale market behavior has flipped to distribution, with AMBCrypto reporting that whales selling jumped to 219 while the number of accumulating whales reached 211 this week. Despite some whales accumulating and rotating from BTC to ETH, the overall whale behavior suggests these key players are not yet fully convinced of the trend, prompting them to behave speculatively. This contrasts with previous whale behavior, where Ethereum whales have recently shown less motivation to hold the market and continually cashed out at the slightest inconvenience. However, buying whales are also growing, providing some hope for the market.
From a technical perspective, ETH now eyes to decisively close above $2,700 and doing so will be a clear pass for anticipated $3,000, according to AMBCrypto. The technical picture shows ETH trading above its 4-hour 50-, 100- and 200-period moving averages at $2,586.27, $2,540.49 and $2,499.93 respectively. However, the loss of the 20-period simple moving average at $2,709.81 leaves $2,700 as the first level buyers would need to regain. Daily momentum indicators remain mixed, with MACD above its signal line at 96.80 and Aroon Up at 85.71% compared to Aroon Down at 42.86%.
