The preliminary date for The Merge was revealed by Superphiz, an Ethereum developer. The announcement seems to have caused several developments. First off, the network’s native token ether saw a significant spike in value and secondly, Ethereum’s hashrate has dropped 18. 21% since June 30. Data also shows that the number of ethereum stored on exchanges has seen a massive drop, as roughly 25. 13 million ether was once held on exchanges on July 5, and today there’s only 22. 77 million worth close to $35 billion.
Data Shows Significant Amounts of Ethereum Have Been Withdrawn From Centralized Exchanges
On July 9, 2022, Bitcoin.com News reported on the delayed difficulty bomb and the fact that The Merge would be pushed back at least until September. The Merge is basically the upgrade that finally transitions the Ethereum (ETH) network from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS).
There are currently two chains: one that leverages PoW and one that is designed for PoS. On that same day, it was reported that 13,012,469 ETH was deposited into the ETH 2.0 contract. Since then, 136,416 ether has been deposited into the contract and there are 410,903 validators.
On July 14, software developer and Ethereum Beacon chain community director, Superphiz, revealed the possible date for The Merge and the timeline noted it could take place during the week of September 19. However, the developer said that the date was still possible and that everyone should keep an eye on official announcements.
Since then, ETH has managed to gain 36.8% against the U.S. dollar in 30 days, as The Merge bolstered the smart contract platform token’s price. Amid the price jump, Ethereum’s hashrate dropped as well, sliding below the 1 petahash per second (PH/s) or 1,000 terahash per second (TH/s) region. The computational processing power has improved since then, as the Ethereum network’s hashrate is coasting along at 1,000 TH/s.
Statistics for the seven-day period show that 2. 36 million ether has been removed from cryptocurrency exchanges since July 5, according to cryptoquant.com data. Ethereum has been following the same trend as bitcoin (BTC), as both crypto assets have been pulled off centralized exchanges in great numbers in recent times.
Bitcoin.com News reported on July 10, how the number of BTC held on exchanges dropped 9. 109% lower than statistics recorded on May 22. Recent data indicates that holders and buyers of ether are also pulling large amounts of ether from exchanges. Data from Chainalysis indicates that the “change in [ethereum] held on exchanges in the last day, is 1. 82M [ethereum], the highest level in over 365 days.”
Insolvency Fears or Merge?
While the most recent withdrawals could be attributed to The Merge, crypto investors have been removing large quantities of funds from exchanges due to crypto companies with major financial troubles. During the last few weeks, three major crypto firms filed for bankruptcy and roughly five or more crypto asset platforms halted withdrawals.
Individuals who held crypto assets on platforms like Celsius and Voyager Digital for instance saw their accounts frozen. A wave of withdrawals has likely resulted from the fear of losing funds to insolvent crypto platforms. During the first week of July, Blockfi’s CEO Zac Prince told the public that while the company had no exposure to Celsius, when Celsius froze operations it caused a significant “uptick in client withdrawals” on the Blockfi platform.
While the insolvencies have caused significant losses across the entire digital currency economy, crypto veterans have scolded newcomers for not holding their assets in a non-custodial fashion. The insolvencies and bankruptcies have also started an uptick of people telling others the “not your keys, not your coins” adage.
What do you think about the vast number of ethereum being removed from centralized exchanges? Is it possible that withdrawals are due to people anticipating The Merge? Or is it because people fear leaving funds on central exchanges? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman, the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News, is a Florida-based financial journalist. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. Redman is passionate about Bitcoin, open-source codes, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,700 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any products or services. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. The author and the company are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from or in connection to the content, goods, or services discussed in this article.
Ethereum Price Analysis: What’s Ahead for ETH After a 9% Weekly Dip?
Ethereum currently rests at a notable support region near $3.2K, with market participants closely observing the potential for a bullish rebound.
The Funding Rates metric offers valuable insights into the sentiment within the perpetual futures markets, helping to gauge the likelihood of a recovery.
Ethereum has seen consistent declines following its rejection at the $4K resistance level, indicating the dominance of sellers. Most recently, another sharp decline pushed the price toward a substantial support zone, defined by the 100-day moving average of $3.1K.
This dynamic support is critical as demand concentration near this region is expected to curb downward momentum, with a bullish rebound being plausible if buying interest emerges.
Currently, ETH is trapped between the 100-day MA ($3.1K) and the $3.5K resistance level, forming a tight consolidation range. A decisive move in either direction will likely determine the mid-term trend.
The 4-Hour Chart
On the 4-hour timeframe, Ethereum broke down from an ascending wedge pattern, a bearish structure that typically signals further declines. This breakdown triggered a swift sell-off, pushing the price toward a support zone defined by the 0.5-0.618 Fibonacci retracement levels.
This support zone has the potential to stabilize the price and possibly initiate a short-term bullish rebound. However, persistent bearish pressure could result in a break below this line, intensifying the downtrend.
If Ethereum breaches this critical support zone, it may trigger panic selling, further strengthening sellers’ dominance. Conversely, a sustained rebound could pave the way for a recovery toward the $3.5K resistance level.
Examining the chart, the recent market correction has coincided with a significant decline in funding rates. This shift suggests growing bearish sentiment among speculators, with many traders betting on further decreases in ETH’s price.
However, upon reaching the substantial support zone at $3K, the Funding Rates metric has started to show signs of recovery. A notable bullish spike in the metric suggests an influx of buying interest as market participants begin to open long positions in anticipation of a price rebound.
If this recovery in funding rates continues, it could indicate sustained demand and the potential for a bullish rebound from the $3K support. On the other hand, if the current recovery loses momentum or reverses, it would signal a return to bearish sentiment, paving the way for a deeper correction.
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Bitcoin Price Stalls at $94K, Ethereum Struggles to Maintain $3.2K (Weekend Watch)
Bitcoin’s volatile end of the week resulted in a price drop toward $91,000 and a subsequent surge to $96,000 before the asset calmed roughly in the middle.
The altcoins continue to struggle as SOL, ADA, and AVAX have charted 4% daily declines.
BTC Calms at $94K
It was nothing short of a volatile rollercoaster of a week for the primary cryptocurrency. It all started quite promising after the most recent MicroStrategy purchase on Monday, as the asset flew past $100,000 for the first time this year and kept climbing on Tuesday morning to over $102,000.
However, that’s when the landscape changed, and BTC slumped hard later that day, and on Wednesday, it slumped to $96,000. Although that was a painful correction on its own, bitcoin kept plunging in the following days to $91,200 (on Bitstamp) on Thursday, which became its lowest price tag in over a month.
The bulls managed to intervene at this point and pushed BTC north. More volatility ensued with several big moves that eventually pushed the asset to $96,000. However, it failed there and has lost almost two grand since then to trade at $94,000 as of now.
Its market cap has risen to just under $1.870 trillion on CG, while its dominance over the alts is up to 54.5%.
ADA, SOL Struggle
Most altcoins are in the red today as well. Ethereum slipped below $3,200 on Thursday, and even though it managed to recover some ground since that low is close to breaking below it now after a 2.3% daily decline. XRP is among the few alts with minor gains today.
In contrast, SOL, ADA, SUI, AVAX, and LINK continue to lose value, with losses of up to 4%. SOL is well below $190 now, while ADA is just over $0.9. More painful losses come from OM, ICP, and RNDR from the larger cap alts.
The total crypto market cap has lost some steam since yesterday and is down to $3.43 trillion on CG.
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Weekly Bitcoin, Ethereum ETF Insights: The Highs, Lows, and Key Takeaways
After struggling at the end of the year with numerous consecutive days of net outflows, the spot Bitcoin ETFs in the States finally registered some notable inflows on Friday.
The Ethereum counterparts sit in the opposite corner, as they have been mostly in the green since mid-December despite the FOMC aftermath on the entire market.
BTC ETFs Are Back
The latest FOMC meeting that took place in mid-December had a dramatic and immediate effect on US-based investors in terms of their Bitcoin-related activities. Following a superb streak after the presidential elections in which they poured billions of dollars within weeks into the regulated BTC financial vehicles, they did a 180-turn and started taking funds out.
December 19 was the worst day in terms of daily net outflows, with $671.9 million taken out. By January 2, seven out of the nine trading days were in the red, with a total withdrawn amount of roughly $2 billion.
This negative streak was finally broken on Friday as the spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $908.1 million in net inflows. Fidelity’s FBTC led the pack with $357 million, followed by BlackRock’s IBIT at $253.1 million and Ark Invest’s ARKB at $222.6 million. No fund recorded any outflows.
Friday’s numbers were so impressive that they managed to turn the whole week around. After the $415.1 million withdrawn on Monday and $242.3 million on Thursday, the week ended in the green with $256 million in net inflows, given the minor $5.3 million on Tuesday.
BTC’s price actions within the same week were quite volatile as the asset slumped hard on Monday amid the massive outflows to $91,300. However, it pumped to almost $99,000 later during the week as the inflows returned.
Ethereum ETFs’ Landscape
Unlike the BTC ETFs, the funds tracking Ethereum saw fewer days in the red after the aforementioned Fed meeting. Withdrawals were observed on December 19 and 20, but investors started to pour funds into them in the following days.
The past week was less positive, though, as net outflows dominated. $55.5 million was withdrawn on Monday and $77.5 million on Thursday. The $36 million in net inflows on Tuesday and $58.9 million on Friday couldn’t make up the difference, and the week ended with $36.1 million in the red.
ETH’s price tumbled hard on Monday as well but is 6.5% up on a weekly scale, which is more than double the increase for BTC. As of press time, Ethereum’s native token stands above $3,600.
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