Key Points
- Ethereum ICO whales are reportedly selling their ETH holdings as the price hovers around $2,638.
- A significant whale associated with the ICO has reportedly dumped 5,000 ETH, worth $13.2 million, to crypto exchange OKX.
According to the latest on-chain data, large holders of Ethereum, often referred to as whales, have been selling their ETH holdings. This comes as the price of Ethereum continues to linger around the $2,638 mark.
Data from Spot on Chain suggests that a significant whale, associated with the Initial Coin Offering (ICO), has sold a total of 5,000 ETH. This amount equates to a value of $13.2 million, which was transferred to the crypto exchange OKX.
Whale’s Remaining Holdings
The data also indicates that since the 8th of July, this particular whale has deposited a total of 48,501 ETH. This amount is valued at $154 million and was also transferred to OKX at an average price of $3,173.
This whale still holds a significant amount of Ethereum. The on-chain data shows that the whale has a total of 303.5K Ethereum, worth $750 million, spread across two wallets. The wallet that frequently deposits ETH to OKX still holds a total of 15.6K ETH, valued at $39.8 million.
Ethereum’s Gas Price
In other news related to Ethereum, the median gas price for the cryptocurrency dropped to a five-year low of under 2 gwei on Saturday, August 10. This represents a 98% decrease from the year-to-date high of 83.1 gwei.
Earlier this year in March, the Ethereum Dencun upgrade saw nine Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) go live. One of these proposals catered to data blobs or proto-danksharding that aims to decrease the transaction costs on the Cardano blockchain.
However, this drop in transaction fee is not entirely positive as it indicates a significant amount of inactivity on the Ethereum blockchain. Gnosis co-founder Martin Köppelmann has expressed concern that current gas fees, which need to be at least 23.9 gwei, are essential for funding staking rewards.
Ethereum’s Price Action
The price of Ethereum has been under substantial selling pressure amid the broader market volatility in recent weeks. As the Ethereum price fell under $2,000 earlier this month, it led to the liquidation of major leveraged long positions.
According to data from CryptoQuant, these liquidations are at a level not seen since November 2022. This has contributed to a significant cooling of the futures market. CryptoQuant reports, “With the futures market potentially reset, if demand returns, Ethereum could be poised for another impulsive bullish surge in the longer term. The cooling of the futures market may attract new buyers and stabilize the market, leading to a potential recovery from the recent downturn.”
