Ethereum Surges 4% As Whales Show Elevated Activity

Ethereum has seen an upwards push of 4% in the last couple of days as whales have displayed elevated levels of activity.

As per data from on-chain analytics firm Santiment, whales have made 611 transactions in the past day. The relevant indicator here is the “whale transaction count,” which measures the total number of Ethereum transfers taking place on the chain that is worth more than $100,000.

When the value of this metric is high, it means whales are making a large number of transactions right now. Since whale transactions involve the movement of a significant number of coins, enough of them taking place close together can cause visible effects on the price of the crypto. Thus, periods with high values of the metric can be quite volatile.

On the other hand, low values suggest whales aren’t that active at the moment, which can lead to the price not observing any significant action. Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Ethereum whale transaction count over the past month:

As the above graph displays, the Ethereum whale transaction count has observed a surge in the past day. During this period of elevated activity, whales have made 611 transactions so far, which is the highest level since December 16, when the price of the crypto saw a sharp downward move and created a local bottom of around $1,160.

This spike on the December 16 bottom was higher in magnitude than the current one and was a sign that a large number of whales were buying up the crypto at those low prices. The latest spike, on the other hand, has occurred while the ETH price has been climbing up, as is apparent from the chart.

One possibility is that this could imply whales are optimistic about this latest buildup and are thus buying more while they still can. Such backing from these humongous holders could sustain the rally further, and take Ethereum to higher levels.

However, another probable scenario is that these rapid transactions might be happening for the purpose of selling instead, which, if true, would rather provide an obstacle to this latest price push, as already happened with the rally above $1,300 in the first half of December.

At the time of writing, Ethereum’s price floats around $1,250, up 4% in the last week.