Blockchain

In recent on-chain data from Spot On Chain, an Ethereum whale appears to have engaged in significant accumulation activity, sparking interest and speculation within the ETH community.

According to the platform, the whale address in question has purchased a total of 64,501 ETH in the past three days, amounting to roughly $187 million at current market prices,

Ethereum Whale Accumulation

Spot On Chain reported that earlier today, the whale acquired approximately 13,526 ETH at an average price of $2,947 per ETH. This accumulation, valued at over $39 million, adds to the already substantial holdings of the whale, suggesting a bullish outlook on Ethereum’s future trajectory.

The platform’s data further reveals that the whale withdrew 10,136 ETH from Binance while purchasing 3,390 ETH from 1inch. These purchases have compounded the whale’s accumulation of ETH in the past three days to a total of 64,501 ETH.

Additionally, Spot On Chain highlights the withdrawal of an additional 40 million USDT from Binance, prompting speculation regarding its potential use for further Ethereum purchases.

According to the portfolio image above that Spot On Chain shared, the whale’s wallet holds a total of 91,321 ETH, in addition to approximately $49.8 million worth of USDT and 5,485 STETH. These assets, in total, are estimated to be $334 million.

Giant whale 0x7a9 allegedly bought 13,526 $ETH ($39.85M) at ~$2,947 again!
• withdrew 10,136 $ETH ($29.85M) from #Binance
• bought 3,390 $ETH with 10M $USDT #1inch

Overall, the whale has bought 64,501 $ETH ($185.5M) in the past 3 days!

It also withdrew another 40M $USDT from… https://t.co/UHIVXfx6Wq pic.twitter.com/ySbvIv2mux

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) February 21, 2024

Ethereum’s Price Action And Expert Sentiment

Ethereum has continued to showcase bullish momentum, trading up by nearly 6% over the past week. However, despite briefly surpassing the $3,000 mark, Ethereum has retraced slightly in the past 24 hours, trading around $2,900 at the time of writing.

This pullback has not dampened optimism within the crypto community, with many anticipating further upward movement. Industry experts have weighed in on Ethereum’s performance, with Stefan von Haenisch of OSL SG Pte in Singapore noting the cryptocurrency’s potential to outperform Bitcoin in the coming months.

Haenisch attributes this optimism partly to speculation surrounding the potential approval of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds in the US. Michaël van de Poppe, CEO of MN Trading, echoes this sentiment, forecasting a potential surge for Ethereum to $3,800 to $4,500 shortly.

#Ethereum is on its way towards $3,800-4,500. pic.twitter.com/TfoBGloBsH

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) February 19, 2024

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView

The cryptocurrency space has been subject to high volatility after Bitcoin finally surged to $53,000. After hitting this level, the cryptocurrency faced notable declines in its value. However, a crypto analyst has predicted that the price might continue to surge, highlighting the enduring strength of Bitcoin’s upward momentum. 

BTC Price Needs To Hold Steady

Despite the recent bearish trends seen in the last few days, a prominent crypto analyst, Michael van de Poppe, has maintained an optimistic outlook on Bitcoin’s price. Sharing a BTC price chart, the crypto analyst emphasized Bitcoin’s current position above $50,000, which shows strength. 

However, he revealed that there is the potential for a more extensive price correction if Bitcoin fails to hold its current resistance area. Reassuring the crypto community, Poppe clarified that although price corrections can be sharp and “nasty,” they typically prove short-lived.

The analyst also disclosed that despite the success of the Spot Bitcoin ETF market, relying solely on ETF inflows will not be enough to propel the price of Bitcoin to $100,000 within two months. He affirmed that Bitcoin’s price trend is still very bullish, noting that surges are more likely to unfold gradually over time, rather than in a single rapid moment.

Analyst Projects Bitcoin Surge To $58,000

In his X posts, Poppe highlighted two potential scenarios for Bitcoin’s price movements. The analyst suggested a possible inclination towards a downward trend, emphasizing the critical zones to watch within the $48,000 to $49,500 price ranges. 

On the flip side, Poppe revealed that the price of Bitcoin could also experience a surge to new highs. He explained that if Bitcoin successfully breaches certain high levels, then the cryptocurrency could achieve a local top of $54,000 to $58,000. 

Furthermore, the crypto analyst presented a Bitcoin price chart, which illustrated a substantial uptrend for Bitcoin. He anticipated a short-term correction for the cryptocurrency, followed by a potential price surge to levels close to $60,000. 

“I’m expecting a short-term correction before a final push to $54-58K and then we’re likely done with this current pre-halving run,” Poppe stated. 

The Bitcoin price has had a rocky start to the new week after losing its footing above $52,000 on Tuesday. However, all hope is not lost, as indicators still point to a continuation of this trend. Crypto analyst Tony The Bull has identified an important trend in the Bitcoin chart which could trigger a continuation of the trend back above $52,000.

Bitcoin 1-Week Fisher Transform At Crucial Point

In an analysis posted on X (formerly Twitter), the crypto analyst shared a chart that showed the Bitcoin Fisher Transform in comparison to price. Most importantly, the chart showed the 1-week Fisher Transform and how it has moved since 2017.

The analysis shows some similarities between the current trend and the trends seen in 2017. A similar trend was also seen in 2019 and 2021, where the Fisher Transform rose rapidly before falling. But the importance of this trend lies in where the Fisher Transform heads next from here.

The current important level is the 1.5 Standard Deviation, which has been a crucial point whenever this trend has occurred. Now, if the Fisher Transform is able to stay above this level, it is bullish for the price. However if it falls below this standard deviation, it is very bearish for the price.

“This is a pivotal area based on historical price action and its exhibiting 2017-like behavior not seen in 2019 or 2021,” the crypto analyst explains. “Below it tends to incite bearish trends, while holding above gives bulls extra vigor.”

Bears And Bulls Vie For Control Over BTC Price

The interest in the next direction of the Bitcoin price has seen bulls and bears lock horns over which camp will reclaim control of BTC. This has seen the price of the digital asset fluctuate wildly over the last few days, going from $53,000 to below $51,000, before bouncing back up once again in the early hours of Wednesday.

This tug-of-war continues to hold the price of Bitcoin down, but investor sentiment seems to be climbing even through this. According to the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index, investor sentiment has reached Extreme Greed for the first time in one year.

Historically, the index going into extreme greed has signaled the top of the market, with prices trending downward not too long after. However, Bitcoin is still seeing positive indicators, with its trading volume rising more than 40% in the last 24 hours alone.

A crypto investor, Fred Krueger, thinks Ethereum is overvalued at spot rates. Referring to X, Krueger added that  Ethereum supporters are “detached from reality” after ETH, the native currency, recently broke above $3,000.

The investor pointed to the general declining on-chain activity, fierce competition from alternatives like Solana and Avalanche, for instance, and regulatory uncertainty that makes holding the coin risky.

Ethereum Is Slow And Usage Is Shrinking

Krueger argues that Ethereum’s on-chain transactions could be faster and cheaper. In the current landscape marked with scalable and low-fee alternatives, either built on Ethereum or existing as independent chains, the chain’s challenges no longer justify ETH trading at spot rates of about $3,000. 

Beyond scaling and throughput challenges, the investor also refers to the sharp decline in daily active users (DAUs) on the mainnet. Since 2021, Ethereum and altcoin prices have peaked, and active DAUs have fallen from around 120,000 to approximately 66,000 in February 2024. 

Though network supporters said there had been developments like layer-2 platforms like Arbitrum pinning their security on Ethereum, Krueger notes that even the most active and largest protocols by total value locked (TVL) have seen user losses.

To illustrate, Uniswap V3, the third version of one of Ethereum’s largest decentralized exchanges, Uniswap, now records around 16,000 daily active users, significantly lower than previous years.

Alternatives Like Solana Offer Better: Is ETH Expensive?

The investor argues that the decline in DAUs, pointing to active usage, sharply contrasts with Ethereum’s rising market capitalization and spot rates. In Krueger’s opinion, this emerging state of affairs is why Ethereum has become a bloated “meme coin like Shiba Inu,” looking at its high market cap.

It in the investor’s assessment that faster and cheaper alternatives like Solana, Avalanche, and Near Protocol offer better value for specific use cases like decentralized finance (DeFi) and games. 

Krueger also took issue with the lack of regulatory clarity on Ethereum. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) batch. Primarily, this is because SEC officials recognize Bitcoin as a commodity.

Gary Gensler and the SEC have failed to classify ETH in the same category as BTC. Accordingly, though the broader crypto community is optimistic about the eventual authorization of a spot Ethereum ETF, Krueger thinks it is unlikely.

Still, time will only tell how Ethereum and its market valuation will evolve in the coming months. Supporters are optimistic, despite criticism, that rising adoption and ETH’s deflationary nature will lift prices towards 2021 highs of $5,000.

Here’s what the “Altseason Indicator” from the on-chain analytics firm Glassnode says regarding if an Altcoin season is currently going on or not.

What Altseason Indicator Says Regarding The Altcoin Season

In its latest weekly report, Glassnode has discussed what the Altcoin season status for the cryptocurrency market has looked like recently. To check whether the “altseason” is on, the analytics firm has devised its Altseason Indicator.

This metric judges if the investors are in a risk-on mode based on how capital rotations are occurring in the sector. There are two conditions the indicator checks for.

First, the Altseason Indicator looks at the capital netflows involving the three major asset classes in the sector: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and stablecoins.

For the former two assets, netflows are gauged using their “realized caps.” The realized cap is a capitalization model that calculates any asset’s total valuation by assuming that the real value of any token in circulation is the price at which it was last moved rather than the current spot price.

The last transfer for any coin was likely the last point at which it changed hands, so the price at the time of that transaction would be its current cost basis. As such, the realized cap sums up the cost basis of every holder in the sector.

Put another way, the realized cap measures the actual amount of capital the investors have put into the asset. Thus, changes in the metric would reflect the amount of capital flowing into or out of the asset.

For the stablecoins, net flows can be judged based on the supply or market cap alone, as the stables’ value remains tied to $1 at every point, so the magnitude of the market cap and realizes cap would be equal (both of these would also equal the supply, except for the unit).

For the Altcoin Season to be active, all three asset classes should have positive netflows. This is because capital generally enters the cryptocurrency sector through these coins and only then rotates into altcoins as investors’ appetite for risk rises.

The other condition the Altseason Indicator checks for is the momentum in the altcoin market cap itself. In particular, the metric confirms whether or not the altcoin market cap is currently over its 30-day simple moving average (SMA).

The chart shows that the Altseason Indicator first started flashing the risk-on signal in October of last year. However, the signal turned off when the market cooled off following the launch of the Bitcoin spot ETFs.

After staying off for 22 days this month, though, the Altseason Indicator seems to have been saying that the Altcoin season is back on.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around the $50,900 level, down 1% in the past week.

There is reason to believe that the altcoin season is imminent based on Bitcoin’s recent price action. Altcoin season is known to be a period when other crypto tokens begin to outperform the flagship crypto token. 

Bitcoin To Cool Off For Altcoin Season

Crypto analyst Rekt Capital stated in an X (formerly Twitter) post that Bitcoin has only one last Pre-Halving retrace before it goes on a parabolic move post-halving. Crypto analyst Sjuul also highlighted in an X post how the funding rate is “mildly high” for Bitcoin at the moment, something which hints that a correction was on the horizon. 

With Bitcoin likely to face a significant correction, this presents the perfect opportunity for altcoins to make a run of their own. Ethereum, the second-largest crypto token by market cap, looks set to lead the pack, hitting $3,000 for the first time in nearly two years. Meanwhile, some analysts have noted indicators that confirm that the Altcoin season is not far off. 

Crypto analyst Crypto Prof noted that the Gaussian channel on the Altcoins chart has turned green after almost 4 years. Also, these altcoins are said to have broken through the previous resistance from the last weekly close. Crypto Prof further stated that the same thing happened in 2016 and 2020, the period in which the Altcoin bull run started. 

Stockmonkey Lizards, another crypto analyst, also mentioned on his X platform that the altcoin is close. In the accompanying chart on his post, he highlighted how the altcoin market cap was going to run to $10 trillion from its current market cap of almost $900 billion. 

Investors Increasing Their Risk Appetite 

On-chain intelligence platform Glassnode noted in a recent report that their Altseason Momentum indicator has shown a “growing appetite from investors to move capital further out on the risk curve.” This suggests that crypto investors are more willing to deploy a significant amount of their capital to altcoins in anticipation of greater returns. 

Interestingly, this altcoin indicator is said to have signalled positive momentum since October 2023 before briefly cooling off during the sell-the-news event that occurred after the Spot Bitcoin ETFs approval. However, the indicator is once again signalling this positive momentum having been retriggered on February 4. 

Glassnode further revealed that, while Bitcoin dominance remains significant, there are signs that capital is being rotated into other ecosystems like Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot, and Cosmos. 

Data from Blockchain Center also shows that the market is gearing closer to an altcoin season. The altcoin season index currently stands at 61%, with a rise to 75% still needed before it can be said that the altcoin season is in full swing. 

Uniswap (UNI), one of the largest decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges (DEX) by trading volume, has made an important announcement regarding deploying its v2 protocol on six additional chains. 

The chains on which the v2 protocol has been deployed include Arbitrum (ARB), Polygon (MATIC), Optimism (OP), Base, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Avalanche (AVAX).

Uniswap Widens v2 Protocol Deployment

According to a recent post on X (formerly Twitter) by Uniswap Labs, the software product developer working on the protocol, the decision to deploy the v2 protocol on more chains is primarily driven by the desire to simplify the experience for Liquidity Providers (LPs).

While the protocol’s v3 offers advanced features tailored for active liquidity providers, the development team believes the v2 protocol offers a more “straightforward approach.” 

By default, v2 pools cover the entire price range, reducing the need for upfront decisions and minimizing the active involvement of liquidity providers. This simplification streamlines the process and makes it more accessible to a broader range of users, according to the announcement. 

Another benefit of using the v2 protocol on multiple chains, according to Uniswap Labs, is its cost efficiency. Creating pools on v2 is more gas efficient than other versions, resulting in lower gas costs to add liquidity. 

This cost reduction can be translated into savings for users, making swaps on the platform “incredibly affordable.” In addition, the use of v2 on Layer 2 scaling solutions significantly reduces the risk of frontrunning and manipulative practices known as Miner Extractable Value (MEV). 

Ultimately, by offering an official v2 deployment directly accessible through the Uniswap interface, the developers suggest that users can be assured of a safe and secure environment for their swaps.

UNI Price Dip, Platform Metrics Remain Solid

Despite the recent developments that could attract investors’ attention and drive broader adoption of the Uniswap protocol, the exchange’s native token, UNI, is currently undergoing a significant correction in line with the overall market trend.

Currently, UNI is trading at $7.22, representing a 4.4% price drop in the past 24 hours and a 1.1% decline in the last trading hour. However, it’s worth noting that UNI has been one of the better-performing tokens in the market, with price increases of 14.7% and 16.8% in the past fourteen and thirty days, respectively.

Furthermore, according to data from Token Terminal, the Uniswap ecosystem continues to exhibit substantial growth in key metrics. 

The fully diluted market capitalization of Uniswap stands at $7.56 billion, reflecting the total value of all tokens if they were fully in circulation. This figure has experienced a notable increase of 18.4% over the past month. 

In contrast, the circulating market capitalization, which considers the currently circulating tokens, is valued at $6.94 billion, indicating a 19.9% increase over the same period.

Despite the overall surge in market capitalization, the trading volume of the UNI token has experienced a significant decline of 69.3% over the past 30 days, amounting to $2.79 billion. 

The total value locked (TVL), a measure of the value of assets locked within Uniswap’s smart contracts, has also experienced a 14.4% increase, reaching $4.76 billion. 

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin has been on a bullish trend, reaching $50,000 for the first time in two years, but some crypto analysts still anticipate that the token might be gearing up for a potential correction.

Bitcoin Could See A Pullback At Any Moment

According to the recent analysis by cryptocurrency expert Crypto Jelle, Bitcoin could undergo a retest anytime soon. Jelle shared his latest projections with his thousands of followers on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

A chart of Bitcoin accompanied his X post to demonstrate his observations and further back up his claims visually. Crypto Jelle’s analysis examines the current and past position of Bitcoin and has identified the presence of a “rising channel.” 

He stated that Bitcoin has been in this rising channel “over the past 6 years.” He further pointed out that the crypto asset is not breaking out of the “channel anytime soon.”

Due to this, Crypto Jelle believes that the price of BTC might witness a “retest of the mid-range.” Thus, he has urged investors to get involved with the token to increase prices and avoid the impending pullback.

The post read:

Bitcoin has spent the past 6 years inside this rising channel. Doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon. In fact, it seems about time for a retest of the mid-range. Send it higher.

Jelle has also underscored the potential for the digital asset to soar higher to a new all-time high. In another X post, he highlighted that today is “one of those days to recall the part of the cycle we are in.”

Jelle has underlined two distinct timeframes for Bitcoin, which include the lower timeframe and the higher timeframe. He asserted that in the lower timeframe, BTC’s performance looks like “dog poop.”

Meanwhile, in the higher timeframe, BTC’s performance looks promising, suggesting a move to a new price level. Jelle appears bullish on Bitcoin as he has encouraged the community not to be “shaken out” of the market.

Massive Sell-Off By BTC Whales

Despite the upward momentum, reports have revealed a significant selling spree from BTC whales. Ali Martinez, a well-known crypto analyst, reported Tuesday’s development on the X platform.

Per Martinez’s post, Bitcoin whales might lose their confidence in the token. Martinez asserted that whales have sold over 30,000 BTC valued at $1.56 billion in the past 2 days.

The report has sent quite a frenzy in the community, leaving crypto enthusiasts to ponder the impact of the sell-off. However, it is believed that this could be a notable development, indicating the start of a distribution phase, which could extend the low timeframe bearish action. 

Cardano (ADA) is being caught in the crossfire once again as Bitcoin millionaire Arthur Hayes is taking shots at the network. Arthur, who is known for being a founder and former CEO of the BitMex crypto exchange, has been vocal about his dislike for the network, which he believes is trying to be like Ethereum.

Cardano Is A Wannabe Ethereum

In an interview with Coin Bureau, Arthur Hayes did not hold back while sharing his scathing review of the Cardano blockchain. The interview, which focused on the performance of Bitcoin and the crypto market so far, pivoted toward Cardano, which Hayes seems to believe is a low-quality copy of Ethereum.

The millionaire started out by warning investors to steer clear of altcoins, which seem to be all buzz and no substance. These projects which he believes should reflect on being “marketed too heavily” have had a track record of imploding and not surviving the market.

Turning to Cardano, Hayes delivered a scathing comment when he called the network the “first wannabe Ethereum.” Furthermore, the founder also does not believe that the network is all that relevant to the crypto industry and explains that the Cardano network is currently at risk of being irrelevant unless it finds some way to set itself apart from the countless Ethereum competitors out there.

Hayes also talked about the Spot Bitcoin ETFs, which were approved for trading in January. But contrary to the warm reception that these exchange-traded products have received, Hayes posits that it is not a win for crypto. Rather, it is a fee-generating vehicle for asset managers such as BlackRock, he explained.

Still Not Convinced About ADA

Hayes’s comments about Cardano have not been limited to the Coin Bureau interview alone as he also took to his X (formerly Twitter) page to bash the network once again. In the post, Hayes refers to the network as “dog sh*t”. He pointed out that the most active decentralized applications (DApps) on the network were not originally launched on Cardano, questioning if the network has any offering that is widely used by investors,

Hayes takes the bashing a step forward by tagging Charles Hoskinson, founder of the Cardano network, and asking him to educate him about the network. However, instead of the usual clapbacks that Hoskinson is known for, he takes a more lighthearted tone, saying, “Arthur, why are you throwing shade at Cardano? I like you man.”

Presently, Cardano continues to show strength after its Total Value Locked (TVL) rose 18% in the last month to cross $504 million. This makes it the 16th-largest network by TVL, in front of the likes of Coinbase’s Base and Aptos, according to data from DeFiLlama.

Data shows social media users aren’t yet showing FOMO around Bitcoin, a sign that the current rally could still have the potential to continue.

Bitcoin Social Volume Hasn’t Been Too High Recently

According to data from the analytics firm Santiment, the crowd FOMO that may be associated with a rally like BTC has seen recently hasn’t yet cropped up on social media.

The indicator of interest here is the “Social Volume,” which keeps track of the total amount of discussion any given topic or term is receiving on the major social media platforms right now.

The metric measures this by counting up the posts/threads/messages that are making at least one mention of the given term. The reason it tracks the number of posts themselves rather than the mentions is so that a few threads with a significant number of mentions can’t skew the indicator by themselves.

When a topic truly receives widespread attention on social media, a large number of posts crop up as users across the platforms participate in talks. Mentions, on the other hand, can sometimes spike just because some niche circles decide to discuss the term.

As such, measuring Social Volume through posts is what provides a better representation of the general trend being followed. Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the indicator for terms related to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency:

As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Social Volume hasn’t been too out of the ordinary recently, despite the sharp rally that the asset’s price has witnessed.

Generally, the indicator tends to rise as rapid moves in the cryptocurrency take place since users get spurred to talk more about the coin. When discussions rise too high, though, it’s often a sign that FOMO is increasing in the sector.

Historically, Bitcoin has tended to move against the expectations of the majority, so such a rise in FOMO has often resulted in top formations for the asset. When discussions rise alongside a drawdown instead (that is, a signal that FUD is going up), a bottom rather takes place for the coin.

From the chart, it’s visible that last month, the indicator registered a spike around the time of the spot ETF approvals, which coincided with the top, but such FOMO hasn’t reappeared for the coin yet.

“Despite Bitcoin’s +74% price rise in 4 months, the crowd FOMO that would normally be associated with this kind of surge has not been present,” notes the analytics firm.

“There was certainly an interest in BTC in the weeks directly before and after the SEC’s approval of 11 ETF’s, but the lack of new greed in the space can actually be considered a promising sign that this rally can continue,” explains Santiment.

BTC Price

Bitcoin has seen some pullback in the past day as its price has slipped under the $51,000 level.